Agri Vehicles Insurance from Greenlands

Author Topic: Best dual purpose BANTAMS  (Read 3799 times)

macgro7

  • Joined Feb 2016
  • Leicester
Best dual purpose BANTAMS
« on: January 11, 2020, 10:20:35 am »
Hello everyone!
After always keeping mostly large fowl dual purpose and egg laying birds I decided to start with the same kind of traditionally meaty birds but in bantam varieties. Partially because of bad experience with massive and very aggressive cocks (all happened to be French breeds... lol)
Obviously i know on bantams there will be a lot less edible flesh but i can keep more of them in the same space.
I m considering:
-speckled sussex (perhaps mixed with other sussex colour varieties)
varieties)
-Derbyshire redcap
-marans (do they even have French copper bantams???)

Any suggestions?

Obviously I'm not going to keep them mainly as meat birds, but rather as pets, so my children can grow up with chickens for eggs and learn that occasionally we eat them too.
Growing loads of fruits and vegetables! Raising dairy goats, chickens, ducks, rabbits on 1/2 acre in the middle of the city of Leicester, using permaculture methods.

doganjo

  • Joined Aug 2012
  • Clackmannanshire
  • Qui? Moi?
    • ABERDON GUNDOGS for work and show
    • Facebook
Re: Best dual purpose BANTAMS
« Reply #1 on: January 11, 2020, 03:31:17 pm »
I gave up my normal sized ducks and hens when I downsized and just have three quail now.  They are in a shed with power and light so donlt take much maintenance.  Grandkids and adult friends alike all go out to see them when they visit.   :excited: :excited: :excited:  They'll have an outdoor aviary in summer.

I still have my weldmesh dogs runs so I'm thinking of having a couple of hens for eggs, but bantams might be a possible alternative. Thank you for the idea. :thumbsup:
Always have been, always will be, a WYSIWYG - black is black, white is white - no grey in my life! But I'm mellowing in my old age

macgro7

  • Joined Feb 2016
  • Leicester
Re: Best dual purpose BANTAMS
« Reply #2 on: January 11, 2020, 05:16:46 pm »
My ones live inside a polytunnel now during winter but in summer they will free range inside an electric fence.
I still do have large fowl hens and massive muscovy ducks for eggs but wanted some chickens to breed and don't want to keep large fowl cocks.
Although our neighbours (large city garden/allotment) like the sound of cockerel I would like a smaller one with less powerful voice  :innocent:
Growing loads of fruits and vegetables! Raising dairy goats, chickens, ducks, rabbits on 1/2 acre in the middle of the city of Leicester, using permaculture methods.

Steph Hen

  • Joined Jul 2013
  • Angus Scotland.
Re: Best dual purpose BANTAMS
« Reply #3 on: January 11, 2020, 05:30:05 pm »
I have welsommer bantams, they laid well in their first year  but not so many eggs after a couple more years. Not enough meat on them to make it worth while in my opinion.
The kids like the bantams, but then they like the huge hens too :-)

Perris

  • Joined Mar 2017
  • Gower
Re: Best dual purpose BANTAMS
« Reply #4 on: January 12, 2020, 07:52:58 am »
... bad experience with massive and very aggressive cocks (all happened to be French breeds... lol)
...
were they the Barbezieux by any chance? I have a youngster (hatched Sept), from the same breeder, who's already taller than some of my hens; no sign of aggression to date, but perhaps you can give me some pointers to what I might expect...?

chrismahon

  • Joined Dec 2011
  • Gascony, France
Re: Best dual purpose BANTAMS
« Reply #5 on: January 12, 2020, 09:40:05 am »
Bantams are ornamental breeding Macgro7, so there will probably be no bantam counterpart for a dual purpose breed. Given that they are defined as a quarter of the weight of their large fowl version and yet have the same number of feathers, using any for meat isn't going to be practical. I can however suggest Leghorns for eggs- they lay 32 grammes upwards, which are completely disproportionate to their size. We've never had prolapse problems with any of ours, but they can fly extremely well. Any enclosure needs to be over 5 feet without a solid top edge, otherwise they will land on it and then fly down.


Another alternative is TNN's, but the bantams are so cute I certainly couldn't despatch one. They are good eating but go broody when they have laid a clutch of just 6 and stop laying for weeks, so keeping them for eggs is going to be hard work. They do come almost ready plucked though, but as a consequence consume a lot of feed in colder weather.

macgro7

  • Joined Feb 2016
  • Leicester
Re: Best dual purpose BANTAMS
« Reply #6 on: January 12, 2020, 10:18:54 am »
... bad experience with massive and very aggressive cocks (all happened to be French breeds... lol)
...
were they the Barbezieux by any chance? I have a youngster (hatched Sept), from the same breeder, who's already taller than some of my hens; no sign of aggression to date, but perhaps you can give me some pointers to what I might expect...?
Generally it's better if cocks are not raised by humans but by a mother hen - both my Barbezieux and Marans were very aggressive towards me - which is a shame as they were beautiful and huge birds. I never had an aggressive cock before though - I guess I just got unlucky with those particular ones (I doubt it's the whole breed).

Chrismahon - there are bantam Vorwerk, Marans, Sussex, Rhode Island Red, Derbyshire Redcap and many other breeds in which the large fowl are regarded dual purpose. To be honest nearly every breed back in the days was dual purpose anyway. I wouldn't mind having at least some broody hens - in fact I really want a couple.

What's TNN? I'm can't work it out lol
Growing loads of fruits and vegetables! Raising dairy goats, chickens, ducks, rabbits on 1/2 acre in the middle of the city of Leicester, using permaculture methods.

chrismahon

  • Joined Dec 2011
  • Gascony, France
Re: Best dual purpose BANTAMS
« Reply #7 on: January 12, 2020, 11:23:56 am »
Transylvanian Naked Neck Macgro7, the national breed of Romania. Hormones in areas of the skin prevent the growth of feathers, most noticeably on the neck, but the underside is featherless as well. Cross breeding produces a band of feathers halfway down the neck- the French Cou-nu (neck naked) is a good example. Cou-nu are therefore a TNN crossed with a now unknown variety or varieties and are a fast growing meat breed locally slaughtered at 12 weeks.


We exported black pure bred TNN's to here. The hens were show standard from Cheshire and the cock came as a hatching egg from Romania. Unfortunately our plans of breeding for sale collapsed when we unravelled the French trading laws.


Problem with the breeds you mention is they are now showing stock and as such will have lost some of their original qualities in exchange for shape and colouring. We had a Rhode Island Red- really pretty but a nasty character who laid surprisingly small eggs very infrequently. Marans in UK have had the leg feathering bred out so I wouldn't know how they perform. Ours here are pretty skinny, so wouldn't make good eating but lay really well.

macgro7

  • Joined Feb 2016
  • Leicester
Re: Best dual purpose BANTAMS
« Reply #8 on: January 12, 2020, 12:43:45 pm »
I had french copper marans with feathered legs - very good quantity and quality of meat indeed - but obviously large fowl.
I might just order some red broiler chicks for meat and just have some nice looking bantams as pets really along with larger hybrid laying hens. Occasionally putting cocks in soup. We usually skin the chickens instead of plucking them (especially smaller ones).
Speaking of naked necks - they do have naked neck meaty broiler hybrids around here - always wanted to try them. They do look ugly though so wouldn't want to breed them.a
Growing loads of fruits and vegetables! Raising dairy goats, chickens, ducks, rabbits on 1/2 acre in the middle of the city of Leicester, using permaculture methods.

Possum

  • Joined Feb 2012
  • Somerset
Re: Best dual purpose BANTAMS
« Reply #9 on: January 12, 2020, 09:42:17 pm »
I'm afraid that you cannot rely on bantam cockerels to crow quietly. We had a golden dutch bantam cockerel a few years ago and there was hardly any difference between him and the larger birds when it came to crowing. He was a very friendly fellow though, and a perfect gentleman with the hens.

roddycm

  • Joined Jul 2013
Re: Best dual purpose BANTAMS
« Reply #10 on: January 14, 2020, 01:19:46 am »
My Wyandotte bantams lay like fury a really good sized egg and they are also very plump! You could certainly eat them if you were so inclined :)  New Hampshire Red bantams lay a lot and don't go broody... you could also go for a cross like a cornish bantam cock and NHR hens or Wyandotte hens so the hens lay and the offspring are meatier!  :chook:

GBov

  • Joined Nov 2019
Re: Best dual purpose BANTAMS
« Reply #11 on: January 30, 2020, 08:54:39 pm »
All Bantams are made out of....

Wait for it.....

CHICKEN!!!

 :roflanim:

Sorry, I couldn't resist. 

We have eaten many many many bantams and, if you think about it, they are bigger than quail and pigeons and no one says those are too small to bother with.

You don't get heaps of meat but then, what you do get is tasty so if you want bantams, go for it.  They will not be a production bird but the nicest thing about chickens is if you change your mind you can eat them all and start again.

 

Forum sponsors

FibreHut Energy Helpline Thomson & Morgan Time for Paws Scottish Smallholder & Grower Festival Ark Farm Livestock Movement Service

© The Accidental Smallholder Ltd 2003-2024. All rights reserved.

Design by Furness Internet

Site developed by Champion IS