Which do you prefer: bantam or standard?

[hlf1996]

I am curious, which do you prefer. If you want to reply with what breeds you have or to explain your answer fuller that is fine.

Edited to say: I have mostly standard chickens, but have four bantams. One mille fleur booted bantam and three OEGB roosters. I am curious to see the bantam breeds that others adore.

 

[JP101010]

I personally love bantams but I guess it really depends on what your planning to do with them...
I have found that Bantams make awesome pets , and with them being small its
convenient for feed / coop purposes.. the bantam rooster also have the cutest chipmunk crow

Standard is good for eggs- big fat ones , and they are hardier IMO .

Either way mixing the two can be tricky as the bigger chicken will always think she/hes got the upperhand and the bantams can get bullied...
but at the end of the day i think each chicken has its own personality despite breed or size...
I would love to get a serama- i think they are the smallest of the chickens? ,but we havent gotten one for fear that our fat bossy RIR would bully it just because of it being so tiny..

 

[chicmom]

Hello!

I love this question! I used to only keep large fowl. I thought, "Gee, why would anybody want a little bantam chicken...they lay small eggs!"

And then, I got my first bantams...I'm in LOVE! I have a Silkie, a few Polish Bantams, and some Cochin frizzle bantams. These little chicksn have stolen my heart!

I like them because they are just so loveable. They are easier to manage than the large fowl. They eat less, they poop less, and you can keep more of them.

You have almost the same variety of breeds, just smaller. And we still eat the eggs just fine. The Polish and Cochin, and Silkie bantams do lay a good sized, small egg

Now, the Modern Game bantams are soooo tiny, I'm really not into them so much. They lay a very small egg.

My absolute favorite bantam that I is my little black bantam frizzle cochin. Her name is "Little Blackie" and she makes me laugh when she runs.,.You can never see her feet and it looks hilarious! She's so fast for such a little thing!

Take care and if you're thinking of getting bantams, go ahead and try! I think you'll love them!

Sharon

 

[Stacykins]

Standards, definitely, because I don't want eggs the size of peas (exaggeration, I know). I LOVE large eggs, and I know bantams just can't produce those. Now, if I was only keeping chickens for pets and not egg production, I think bantams might be cool because they are more compact. But yea, eggs matter here!

The Araucana I have I think are actually perfect balance between standard and bantams. They are smaller bodied than a lot of large fowl chickens, but lay great sized eggs for their size and at a good rate too. I have a teeny pullet who would likely be considered a bantam, but she lays an enormous egg. But they are light eaters, too, they don't eat a ton of feed and are always out foraging (or digging in the snow trying to forage).

 

[Nitrous]

My bantams were so much more friendly than my Rhode island Reds. They NEVER warmed up to me, in two years. The white one would snuggle up, in the crook of my arm and let me carry her. The black one would run laps around my midsection, like a tiny planet caught in my gravity well.

The RIRs would keep a ten yard safety zone between them and me, at all times.

But the RIRs laid ENORMOUS eggs, compared to the bantams. The banty eggs could be used for tea parties with three year old girls. They were just like eggs... only smaller! Little Barbie Mattel eggs. A three egg omelet would starve you to death.

 

[stilldeb]

Love my Bantams! I have Polish, Silkies, Cochin Frizzles, Brahmas, Sultans, Sebrights, EE, and D'Uccles. We have no problem with the size of their eggs and they take up less space and make less mess as well. Very sweet, friendly birds.

But whoever said Bantams don't crow loudly never met my Silkie roo, Harry!

 

[angie3881]

I love my chickens all sizes, but my soft spot is for my bantams!! the roosters are so stinking cute and the hens are very, very sweet. I know there is more to a standard egg, but those bantam eggs are the absolute best!!! I have also found that a couple of my standards used to be very friendly, sit on my lap and follow me around- but if I don't have time to spend with them for a few days they seem to forget me and that we were once friends. My bantams don't seem to forget.

 

[JP101010]

My bantams were so much more friendly than my Rhode island Reds. They NEVER warmed up to me, in two years. The white one would snuggle up, in the crook of my arm and let me carry her. The black one would run laps around my midsection, like a tiny planet caught in my gravity well.

The RIRs would keep a ten yard safety zone between them and me, at all times.

But the RIRs laid ENORMOUS eggs, compared to the bantams. The banty eggs could be used for tea parties with three year old girls. They were just like eggs... only smaller! Little Barbie Mattel eggs. A three egg omelet would starve you to death.

our RIR miss red keeps a safety zone unless you have something ..edible or otherwise attractive in which case she turns from a cheeky little booger chicken into an acrobatic ninja theif..... needless to say we feel so lucky to have only one of her kind

 

[Zinnia-Hen]

I dunno. I really, really like them both. Neither is better nor worse than the other in my opinion.

 

[Mum]

.....

Either way mixing the two can be tricky as the bigger chicken will always think she/hes got the upperhand and the bantams can get bullied...

That's not my experience at all. I have a mixed flock and my OEG won't take any nonsense from anyone, no matter what their size, even the Orpington (who is a giant by comparison) won't take on my OEG. My bantams and large fowl get along just great together.