The BANTAM ORPINGTON Thread

[Faraday40]

Here's how our little Cookie is coming along. (Hatched April 22nd) I love to watch her walk as her feathers drop below the grass line. No legs or feet can be seen. She's the only bantam here & always in the middle of it all. (Nickname is the "Bantam Menace.")

 

[ChickenPox]

I have a silly question, but recently lucked into an AWESOME deal and ended up with a trio of chocolate bantam orps. The roo is BEAUTIFUL, seems to be very typey. The hennies appear to be pullets and still developing, but close to POL. My silly question is......are the bantam chocolates showable? I was told they are Greenfire lines, and I am so excited about them. I need to get pics of the roo, he really is stunning!

 

[ChickenPox]

Bump! Anyone?

 

[Sagetown]

Hi ChickenPox: Check with your local Fair livestock show board. You can get all the requirements for poultry eligibility.

 

[Faraday40]

Our Bantam Menace laid her 1st egg, and boy are we proud! It's been 6 days, and she made 5 eggs! They're small but very frequent. My full size Orps & Cream Legbars haven't started laying yet. We almost didn't keep this one b/c she's our only bantam. Her small size doesn't stop her from anything.

Hard to believe we were wearing shorts less than a week ago. Might get some flurries or frost this weekend.

 

[Sagetown]

Hello Faraday40: Menace is beautiful, and spoiled too. If she is like my four Buffs, her eggs will be medium sized. My buffs are 13 months old. Took awhile for them to get regulated, as they went broody right after they began laying good. I'm gathering 3 - 4 eggs per day now, and they'll weigh over 2 oz each. That's a pretty big egg for a banty.

 

[Faraday40]

Hello Faraday40: Menace is beautiful, and spoiled too. If she is like my four Buffs, her eggs will be medium sized. My buffs are 13 months old. Took awhile for them to get regulated, as they went broody right after they began laying good. I'm gathering 3 - 4 eggs per day now, and they'll weigh over 2 oz each. That's a pretty big egg for a banty.

Your pretty buffs look happy.

Thanks. I'm glad to learn that this breed can be good layers....and med sized eggs. Ouch! I really have no idea what to expect. Hers was the only misc. bantam egg that hatched. (It was marked as a Bantam English Orpington.) We only kept her b/c of the high cute factor. She knows she's beautiful. She has calmed down quite a bit now that she's older.

Last year we got a "Princess Lay-a." So to keep a Star Wars theme, this year we added a "Darth Layer" and "The Bantam Menace." The all-time worst chicken name was "Poopie Poo." It was not her orig. name, but that bird frequently pooped in our laps! We like to label each egg with the date & the hen who made it. Problem: No one wanted to eat the Poopie Poo eggs. What are some of your hens' names?

 

[Sagetown]

Hey Faraday40: Names are hard for me to make up. I have to watch them for some time before a name comes up that fits their character. So, when one of the Buffs began to show a washed out color I named her Buffy.
Another I named Jealous, because she didn't like any of the others in my lap, and would peck them till they jumped down. Spoiled for sure.
Peaches; was the smallest, and most brilliant in color.
Last was Crooked Toe. I never noticed it when she was young, or I would have fixed it by wrapping a band-aid around her middle toe, and it would have grown out straight, but she does alright with it.

 

[Faraday40]

I like the name "Jealous." I'm sure it's appropriate. Looks like they enjoy each other. For a while I had 2 small flocks, but now they're all finally moving as one integrated flock. I added the babies in July, so it took a while. Perhaps the cold weather is helping.

 

[Lacy Blues]

I need to move this thread up on my profile page so I'm commenting.

I used to try and name all my birds... that stopped a couple years ago... too many to remember. I think perhaps naming the ones I intend to keep will be the extent of it and as of yet, I haven't decided which ones to keep so...

Y'know, just about every time I see the title of this thread in the mornings (when I'm still bleary-eyed) it seems to say The BATMAN ORPINGTON thread. Earns a double take.