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Historic, archived document Do not assume content reflects current scientific knowledge, policies, or practices. JLS.-HORIICUÍIURAUSWTION RECEIVE? STANDARD VARIETIES 01 GHíMÉÑf4 LIBRARY lœLTSVILLE.SVILLE MARYtAND V. THE BANTAM BREEDS AN J ^imiDTIDD ROB R. SLOCUM Of the Animal Husbandry Division Black Cochin Bantam, Female FARMERS' BULLETIN 1251 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON : OOVERNMENT PR1NTINQ OFFICE I IMI "D ANT AM CHICKENS have a strong appeal to grown people and to children alike. Interest in them is widespread. They are bred extensively for exhibition and are kept also as pets and as utility fowl. The standard breeds and varieties of bantams include such a wide range of shape, color, and other characteristics that any individual taste can be suited in selecting a variety. This bulletin gives information concerning the gen- eral c aracteristics of bantams, together with a suffi- cient lescription of each standard breed and variety, to enable any one desiring to keep these fowls to select the variety which will best suit his fancy and purpose. Contribution from the Bureau of Animal Industry JOHN R. MOHLER, Chief Washington, D. C. Issued December, 1921 STANDARD VARIETIES OF CHICKENS. V. THE BANTAM BREEDS AND VARIETIES. CONTENTS. Page. Page. Purposes for which bantams are kept- 3 Breeds and varieties 8 Bantams and the fancier 3 Game Bantam 9 Bantams as utility fowl 3 Black-Breasted Red Malay Ban- Bantams for the children 4 tam 13 Characteristics of bantams 4 Sebright 13 Egg production 4 Rose-Comb Bantam 14 Size and color of eggs 4 Booted White Bantam 15 Broodiness , 5 Brahma Bantam 15 Table quality 5 Cochin Bantam 17 Tendency to increase in size 5 Japanese Bantam 19 Houses and runs 6 Polish Bantam 20 Peed consumption 7 Mille Fleur Booted Bantam 21 Silkie 23 PURPOSES FOR WHICH BANTAMS ARE KEPT. BANTAM CHICKENS are the object of a widespread interest, primarily as ornamental fowl, but also as egg layers and as chil- dren's pets. Usually they are kept in small flocks, often rather closely confined. BANTAMS AND THE FANCIER. Many of the bantam breeds and varieties are the exact replicas in small size of larger fowl. They present a great variety of colors, color patterns, and types, and as they may be easily handled and bred in restricted quarters, they are ideal material for any one who wants to breed and exhibit chickens largely for the love of it. Their small size, trimness, and grace, and the finish which they possess when well bred, appeal to a large class of persons. Large numbers of bantams are found in any poultry show. Aside from the pleasure of breeding bantams, they can be made to produce a profit in the breeders' hands, for there is a good demand for eggs for hatching and for breeding stock of good quality. BANTAMS AS UTILITY FOWL. Bantams have a distinct utility value also. For the size of the bird and the quantity of feed which they eat, the eggs which they 3 4 Farmers' Bulletin Î251. produce are large. As the eggs are smaller than standard hens' eggs, it is impracticable to produce them for market, but for home use bantam eggs can be produced to advantage. For this purpose ban- tams sometimes have an advantage over larger fowl, because they can be kept in a much more limited space and seem to stand confine- ment better. In many of the European countries small flocks of bantams are very commonly kept for the production of eggs for home use. BANTAMS FOR THE CHILDREN. Because of their small size, bantams often have a particular appeal to children. Where it is desired to arouse the interest of children, especially small children, in poultry keeping, it is often advisable to procure a few bantams for them to feed and care for as their own property. The small size of the birds makes it easy for the children to handle them, and the care and possession of a few bantams will often develop in the child a real love for poultry. At the same time the fundamental principles of good poultry keeping can be learned with them just as well as with larger fowl. CHARACTERISTICS OF BANTAMS. EGG PRODUCTION. Very few complete records are available regarding the number of eggs which a bantam hen will lay in a year. Bantams are often kept by fanciers who make no effort to obtain eggs except when eggs for hatching are desired, and practically no attention has been given to breeding for egg production. With careful attention to the feeding and breeding of the birds for egg production it should be possible to obtain an egg production considerably better than that indicated. As might be expected, the variation reported both within a breed or variety and between the different breeds and varieties is consider- able. As a general, conservative statement 100 eggs per head per year is as high a production as can be reasonably expected, though indi- vidual bantam hens have laid as high as 150 or even 175 eggs in a year. SIZE AND COLOR OF EGGS. Eggs laid by bantams vary in size also, according to the breed producing them, ranging from about 12 ounces a dozen from the smallest bantams to 18 or 20 ounces a dozen for the largest bantams. In the breeding which has been done no particular attention has been paid to the color of bantam eggs. For this reason there is a considerable variation in egg color and often quite a wide variation among the different varieties of the same breed. The Game Bantams, Standard Varieties of Chickens. g Sebrights, Kose Combs, Japanese, Polish, Mille Fleur Booted, and Silkies produce eggs which are classed as white or which may be a little creamy or ivory in color, though occasional eggs are produced which are light brown. The Cochin and Brahma bantams, on the other hand, produce eggs which are brown, varying all the way from a deep brown to a very light brown, which may be nearly white. BROODINESS. The Brahmas, Cochins, and Silkies are generally classed as broody breeds, and these, as a rule, make good sitters and good mothers. The Cochin bantam is the breed most generally kept for utility purposes in this country. Hens of these breeds are sometimes used to hatch pheasant eggs. The Sebrights, the Mille Fleurs, and Booted bantams show a considerable amount of broodiness but are not so persistent in this respect as the breeds already mentioned. The Game bantams, Rose Combs, Japanese, and Polish are generally classed as nonsitters, although occasional individuals of these breeds will sit and hatch eggs. TABLE QUALITY. Bantams, except for their small size, make desirable table fowl. Sometimes old birds, because they are small, have been mistaken for broilers and have created the impression that bantams are tough eating. At the same age, however, bantam chickens will be found to be just as tender and just as delicious eating, in spite of their small size, as any of the larger breeds. TENDENCY TO INCREASE IN SIZE. Bantams are bred for small size, and the Standard of Perfection prescribes certain weight requirements above which specimens are not supposed to go. There is always, however, a tendency for ban- tams to increase in size, which must be offset by careful breeding or by other means. The most effective means of securing and retaining small size is breeding for this purpose. This consists in the selec- tion or purchase of birds for breeders which are of the size desired or even smaller. Some breeders practice late hatching, knowing that late-hatched chicks do not as a rule attain the size of early hatched chicks. Scanty feeding is another practice resorted to by bantam raisers during the growing season to keep the young fowls from growing to as large a size as they otherwise would. These practices, however, must not be carried so far as to affect the health and vigor of the birds ; they are measures of only temporary value and do not make any real progress toward reducing the size of future generations. 6 Farmers' Bulletin Í25Í. HOUSES AND RUNS. Bantams, like other fowl, will do best where they have plenty of room £fnd where they have a considerable run, though they can be kept successfully in rather limited quarters. The house shown in Fio. 1.—Convenient, movable bantam houses with covered runs attached. figure 1 is a good type of house for bantams. It is small enough to be picked up by tbe handles and moved, together with the attached run, to fresh ground. This house is 3 feet 10 inches wide by ,4 feet 6 inches deep. It is 5 feet 6 inches high in front and 4 feet 5 inches high in the rear. The attached covered run is 3 feet 10 inches wide, the same as the house, and is 5 feet deep. The front of the run is Ö feet 8 inches high and where attached to the house is 3 feet high. Such a house and run will accommodate to good advantage from 6 to 10 bantam hens and a malffbird. f Via. 2.—Large bantam house divided into pens for different matlngs. Standard Varieties of Chickens. 7 Figure 2 shows a larger bantam house divided into various pens or compartments in which different matings can be kept. Small yards are built in front of this house. The house itself is 4 feet 10 inches high in front and 3 feet 11 inöhes high in the rear. Each pen is 4 feet wide and 6 feet 4 inches deep.