What is the BEST LAYING breed of Bantam?

[Chilebound]

My subject line says it all. I have a few Banty's and think they are fun, and I want to justify having more......hence, in your opion and experience, what breed, type of Bantam hen produces the most, best and most interesting eggs? (any excuse for more chickens!)

 

[mmaddie's mom]

gotta have banty Ameraucanas!

 

[Chick CJ]

I have four different bantam breeds. My barred rock bantam lays nearly everyday, only skipping once in a great while. She has since the day she started laying!
CJ

 

[gryeyes]

mmaddie's mom :

gotta have banty Ameraucanas!

I have two of these, and can hardly wait until they start to lay!

Plus I have a couple of bantam Cochins, and some Sebrights. One cochin is laying already.​

 

[lceh]

Our EEs are probably our most reliable producers. Our bantam Ameraucanas haven't started laying yet, but I hope they'll at least keep up with the EEs! Our bantam buff Brahma's pretty good too, as is the MF D'uccle. Can't lose, really, especially if you have one of the "miniature" laying breeds (bantam barred rocks, Wyandottes, Brahmas) instead of all true bantams (Sebrights, D'uccles, silkies, etc.).

 

[Chilebound]

Great! Green and small both! What fun! I cant wait to order a bunch next spring. Thanks for the help, I hope more people respond, I'd like to hear more. I have learned so much from this forum. I just learned about 'true' bantams and miniture of laying breeds. I do have a white wynnedote bantam, and love her. i hope she starts to lay soon! the rest of my bantams hens are seabrites and D'Uncles....

 

[lceh]

These are my daughter's birds, and we love them all, but I have a soft spot in my heart for her one Mille Fleur D'uccle "Millie". She is so funny and inquisitive and friendly, and she lays lots of little eggs that make adorable devilled eggs! Now that we've moved out of the city I'm going to get my own flock of standards going this spring, but I'm tempted to get a few more D'uccles just for fun because they are so sweet and cute.

 

[skya328]

My bantam Ameraucana lays cream colored eggs. That's the only banty I have that's old enough to lay. The rest are only 6 wks old, so I know it's her that's laying them. Are they supposed to lay colored eggs?

 

[sixlittlechicks09]

My OEGB's are just loves! And my darling little Nora has been laying us a pretty little egg every day! It looks like alittle dove egg, it's so cute!

 

[lceh]

Hi Skya328 -- in a nutshell, bantam Ameraucanas are often actually "Easter Eggers" (EEs), meaning that the hatchery sells them as Ameraucanas (or sometimes "Americanas" or even Araucanas), but they are really a cross of true Ameraucana and other breeds. Hatchery "Ameraucanas" (EEs) can lay eggs ranging from green to blue to pinkish to cream. That means you get a surprise when they lay that first egg! True Ameraucanas can only lay blue (or bluish-green) eggs, and can generally only be bought from an Ameraucana breeder, not a hatchery. I learned this lesson when our first hatchery "Ameraucanas" laid green eggs. We do love them, and they're great birds, but DD's decided to start a flock of true, blue-egg laying bantam Ameraucanas, so we've learned a lot about all this. Hope that helps!