What are bantys good for?

[cajunlizz]

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Do you have pictures of yours?

 

[juliechick]

Cochins don't have beards. They could be a cross between Cochins and Silkies, though. That's what they look like to me.

 

[burntumber]

Did someone mention they'll set, hatch and raise pretty much anything??? I swear you could put an ostrich egg under them and they'll hatch it and raise it! LOL!

We put our layer/meat breed chicken eggs under the Showgirls and Silkies and they are setting machines with a better hatch rate than my incubators!! So that's something.

Also, if you don't leave the eggs in they won't get broody and will lay right through the winter- some lay practically as well as leghorns! Cold weather doesn't seem to bother them one bit. We love their small eggs - two for breakfast with toast is the perfect amount!

The feed conversion is excellent. Larger layer breeds eat A LOT. With grain prices the way they are, we're not keeping as many of our larger layer breeds over winter.

I got a few Silkies years ago to set our Speckled Sussex eggs- and now I'm more into the Showgirls then anything! They're addictive! LOL!

They're a friendly breed, easy to handle and show. Layer and meat breeds can be more ornery- and their size makes the roos downright dangerous. We have a Langshan roo- he's about up to my waist, that's how tall he is! He's HUUUGE. Luckily, he's a sweetheart. He'd be a force to be reckoned with if he were mean!

 

[cajunlizz]

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YOU got a picture of that HUGE rooster . ?

 

[burntumber]

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I don't, but I can take one! I'll try to remember to do it tomorrow. He's really amazing. I'm not really a rooster person, but I'm just smitten with this guy!

Are you familiar with the breed? I was looking for a big rooster for our Speckled Sussex hens- and I sure did land one!

 

[Duchesse]

I've been considering chickens for two years now. I couldn't decide whether to get small standards or bantams. I'm afraid of big chickens. I knew I wanted bantams just because they were cute but, I needed meat too.

Everyone I talked to said, don't get bantams for meat but after reading this thread I'm going with my first mind. All of you sold me on the bantams.

My needs are small (3 persons in my household) and this is just a hobby for me. I live in NYC. This is the perfect size meal for me.

I have 5 pygmy goats already. I hope they get along with my wyandottes. I decided on them because they can withstand the cold, they get broody, the are good layers, and friendly I heard.

Does anyone here eat silkies? I hear they taste just like any other chicken but the meat is black. Tell me more.

 

[JennsPeeps]

I saw an episode of "Bizarre Foods" where they ate silkies' testicles in soup (Asia - probably China).

I got my banty cochin b/c she was a Craiglist offering for free. I'd wanted a banty because, well, they're cute & fluffy. She's feisty and a good "watch chicken" - she raises the alarm when an unfamiliar cat is in our yard and teaches the younger chickens (all now double her size) stuff about watching out predators.

She doesn't eat much.

ETA - she's also a good conversation piece when people come over simply b/c she's so different from the standards. As if I needed a "conversation piece"... isn't having chickens in the city bad enough?

 

[pbjmaker]

I went to the state fair today and decided banties would be easier to steal and smuggle out - they were so cute I wanted to take a bunch home with me...

 

[Chickenaddict]

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Do they have feathered feet too?

 

[cajunlizz]

ALL of them have feathered feet