Bantam Chickens For Your Backyard

If you are looking to find some of spunkiest and most fun chickens to have as pets, you should definitely check out a bantam chicken.  They may not lay eggs as big, so do not get all bantams if you are looking for great eggs, but they are cute, friendly and fun.  Bantam chickens are basically miniature chickens, many breeds of large chickens will have a bantam chicken breed as well.  These bantam breeds are often 1/5 to 1/4 the size of the larger breed, but they act just like the big ones.

Every year bantam chickens become more and more popular not just as backyard chickens, but as show chickens.  Because they are so small and they also have a greater variety of colors than you will find in normal chickens, you often see these chickens taking home top prize in competitions and shows.  A few of the most popular breeds of bantam chickens that you will see in shows are the Silkie, Dutch and Sebright. 

Bantams are great for owners that have small backyards, because they do not need as much space to run around as the larger breeds need.  Besides being smaller chickens, they need the same care that you give to any other breed of chicken.  They can be left alone for long periods of time, given that they have sufficient food and water, are friendly and are a lot of fun.  The bantam chickens eat the same food that you would feed to normal breeds, grains, insects and vegetation.

Bantam hens make great mothers for your younger chicks.  They are extremely protective chickens and will not allow anything to get near the baby chicks without attacking it.  So if you are thinking about bringing home a new batch of chicks, you might want to think about getting a bantam hen or two to help take care of them.  Bantam roosters on the other hand are known for looking aggressive, and given their size, this can be quite funny.

There are breeds known as true bantams, that do not have a larger version.  Some of these breeds are the Silkie, Tuzo, Dutch, Booted and Rosecomb.  When bantam chickens are raised as pets in backyards they live longer than out in the wild because they are very easy prey for larger animals.  They usually live between five to ten years in a backyard environment.  If you are looking for great breeds of chickens that are a ton of fun and happy, you should definitely look into getting a bantam breed.  I hope this article has taught you something about bantam chickens, good luck and have fun with your amazing pets.

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