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GERMAN BANTAMS By: Elly Vogelaar, with our thanks to the Schweizer Klub der Deutsche Zwerghühner Photos: Jan Schaareman unless stated differently Above: This yellow duckwing German Bantam won Europa Champion in Rheinberg, Germany, November 2016. Breeder: Rico Albrecht. Most large chicken breeds have a bantam counterpart, exhibiting all of the standard breed's characteristics. A true bantam, however, has no large counterpart, and is naturally small. For these breeds there is no corresponding large standard. Many countries have their ‘own’ breed of such diminutive chickens, often of similar body type and colouration, such as, left to right, the Hollandse Kriel (Dutch Bantam), the Belgische Kriel (Belgian Bantam), the Pictave (French bantam), the Svensk dvärg (Swedish bantam) and the Deutsche Zwerghuhn (German Bantam). Photos: Archives Aviculture Europe. In 2016, in Germany, the Deutsche Zwerghuhn / German bantam was chosen ‘Breed of the Year’ and attracted the spotlight at many shows. The breed is not often seen abroad, so we would like to tell you a bit more about it. Overall impression Each chicken breed is defined primarily by its shape. This also applies to the German Bantam. Its long-stretched body shape with the flowing lines and the horizontal attitude, the nobility in the expression and the delicate head-points are unique in their interplay, and, to this day, this assemblage corresponds to the ideas that its creator, Wilhelm Müller, had a hundred years ago. The fiery red eyes, the slate-blue legs and the pure white ear lobes (all of them characteristics of the north-west European breeds), the long tail of the cocks, with the full and tight coverage, as well as the grace of movements are further traits that characterize the German Bantam. These featuress are measured in every German Bantam, irrespective of the colour variety. Concise History of the breed The breed was created by Wilhelm Müller and standardised in 1917. According to the German Standard description, it was bred from “rassenlosen Land- zwerghühner” (common German farmyard bantams, without a specific breed name or type) Newsletter 41-2016 of the Landesverband der Rasse- geflügelzüchter Sachsen-Anhalt e.V. gives a more precise description: In 1911 Wilhelm Müller began to create the German Bantams in the wild colour. To reach his aim, he mated a golden Phoenix cock to a black bantam hen. In 1914, selected offspring was mated to a common partridge farmyard bantam hen, followed by many back-pairings to the best birds. The first wildcolour German Bantams, showed by Wilhelm Müller in 1917. Wilhelm Müller worked as a landscape designer in the Convent Park in Haldensleben. Bantams were his special passion. For them, he created ideal living conditions by means of generous free-roaming in the exemplary park facilities. He noticed that bantams in rough and semi-wild rearing did not form broad, round and soft feathers, but became firmer and harder in feathering and also longer in the back. Through the outbreak of the World War, Müller could not keep his numerous breeding animals to the full extent. Eduard Baer and Carl Lava helped him by taking care of several small breeding strains. He received further help from the Zwerghuhnzuchterverein Berlin (The Bantam Breeders’ Club in Berlin). An application submitted to the Bund Deutscher Geflügelzüchter (Federation of German Poultry Breeders) for the new breed was successful with their support and, already in July 1916, they published the draft of a standard description. Only one year later, the Commission met in Magdeburg with the Bantam Breeder Clubs. On the following day, after long hours of negotiations, the “Deutsche Zwerghuhn” was recognised according to a standard description written the night before by Wilhelm Müller, with the demand to emphasize the “Landhuhnform”. He presented the first wild-coloured German Bantams in 1917 at the Bantam Show in Berlin. Left: Wilhelm Müller. In addition to its outward appearance, its natural habits of behaviour have been essentially preserved in the German Bantam. This is how the unforgotten breeder Wilhelm Müller once described his breed: “.... The nature of the German bantam is delightful. It has a lot of originality together with a bold, but also a dignified, graceful temperament. It has affections which must be regarded as joy of life, arrogance and exuberance. If a flock of our bantams walks through a meadow, a garden, or a forest with a bold cock, they look like jungle fowls. The way how the cock protects his flock, how he crows, how he parades around his the hens, how he is cautious or passionate, is striking. And as the hens sneak and quietly duck in the green, so carefully and quietly search for their nest, usually also quiet when leaving the nest after laying, is different than we are accustomed to at our backyard chickens ..... It is wonderful to observe the prudent and wise look at the approach of an observer. And the sensitive ones are amazed to notice the way in which the trusted disturber is greeted with clucking, while the unknown people or the potential enemies are evaded lightning fast, at one signal from the rooster”. Photo courtesy of the Schweizer Klub der Deutsche Zwerghühner. Keeping and Breeding It may be clear that the German Bantam is a creation for free roaming, but it also thrives without restriction with less space. Such runs, however, must then be adapted to the basic requirements of the bantams. The German Bantam is a relatively easy-to-breed bird. Already with a small breeding pen of 1 rooster and 3 or 4 hens, or with a set of hatching eggs, you can start with the breed. The laying performance should not necessarily be in the foreground, but a good hen achieves a number of 120 eggs per year. The brooding instinct of the original breed has largely been overcome and there are no problems with artificial breeding. It is readily possible to achieve a hatchability percentage of 80% or more. Even in the individual colours there is no difference. There are no problems in rearing if proper conditions (shelter and feeding) are prepared. Success in the long term can only be achieved, however, if a breeder knows the origin of the animals exactly and is aiming a targeted breeding on the existing breeding characteristics. Crossbreeding with other breeds should be omitted, and even in the colour varieties one should be careful, because in case of incorrect mating a whole stock can lose its quality. Photo courtesy of the Schweizer Klub der Deutsche Zwerghühner. Breeding strains can easily be assembled with one cock and up to 10 hens, but the experienced breeder will always use the most varied breed characteristics and breed with smaller pens, in order to obtain a higher quality of the birds. To breed German Bantams is always a lot of fun, because in a confined space these bantams can become very confident. However, they have never lost their typical farmyard-bird characteristics. A tree is always preferred as a place to roost. Also, every now and then a hen will go missing, to appear again 3 weeks later from a hidden spot with a few chicks. The character of the original farmyard bantams has been preserved in all their hereditary tracts and must be further and further exploited by effective cultivation. Colour varieties German bantams are recognised in many colour varieties: Wild colour /golden; Black-Red/Partridge; Yellow Duckwing; Silver Duckwing; White; Black; Pile; Millefleur; Blue-Red/Blue Partridge, Blue Duckwing (yellow hackle), Silver Blue; White black Columbian; White blue Columbian; Buff black Columbian; Buff blue Columbian; Lemon black Columbian Black Mottled; Lavender; Buff and Birchen. Left: Europa Champion in Rheinberg 2016. Yellow duckwing hen, 97 points. Owner: Günter Kossmann. Below: Europa Champion in Rheinberg 2016. Partridge cockerel, 96 points. Owner: Heiner Albrecht. Below: Europa Champion in Rheinberg 2016. Wild colour cockerel, 97 points. Owner: Team S & B Klophausen. Right: Europa Champion in Rheinberg 2016. Partridge hen, 97 points. Owner: Hans Jürgen Schuller. Below: Europa Champion in Rheinberg 2016. Black hen, 97 points. Owner: Team Huhn. Above: Rheinberg 2016. Millefleur cockerel, 94 points. Owner: Harald Scholze. Left: Rheinberg 2016. Blue silver cockerel, 96 points. Owner: Heino Wiegmann. Below: Rheinberg 2016. Pile cockerel, 96 points. Owner: Team Sabine & Bernd Klop- hausen. Below: Rheinberg 2016. Silver duckwing cockerel, 96 points. Owner: Karl-Otto Semmler. Below: Rheinberg 2016. Blue partridge cockerel, 96 points. Owner: Oswald Reisinger. All photos at the European breed Show in Rheinberg 2016 are taken by Jan Schaareman. In all the colour varieties of the German Bantams, it is always to be assumed that the German Bantams are bred on perennial breeding based on the colour of the rooster. In contrast to many other breeds, there is a uniform colouration in the German Bantams, especially in the wild colour varieties, being the black-red/partridge, yellow duckwing, silver duckwing, blue-red/blue partridge, blue duckwing (yellow hackle), silver blue, pile and golden/wild colour. The roosters ought to have a clean breast, belly and thigh colour, in hackle and saddle with a clean and well defined stripe, shoulders and back are conform the colour variety. The hens have a salmon breast, more or less intensive depending on the colour variety, a striped hackle and a good even partridge colour, each feather showing a coloured shaft. The peppering doesn’t need to be very fine, but most important is an even peppering. However, should the peppering be both even and fine, that will certainly increase the breeding value of the bird enormously. In the case of the wild-colour hens, a dark powdering must be present on the side of the breast, and the body feathers end in a delicate black border.

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