Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
come in an assortment of colors, with more constantly being developed. Currently com-
mon are the White and Black varieties, with Blue, Buff, and Partridge seen nearly as fre-
quently. More recent color creations include the Barred, Grey, Lavender, and Red variet-
ies. The popularity of these fine bantams makes it seem certain more colors will appear.
To be true to type, Silkies must have not only the full battery of soft down feathers,
but also black or very dark skin. The comb should be walnut-shaped and a mulberry col-
or. Silkies also must have five toes and the telltale downy feathers on their legs. To main-
tain the standard in your flock, light-skinned birds or birds with a single comb should
rapidly be culled.
Silkies are not the greatest layers but make fantastic setters and mothers. They will
set on a rock for weeks with the hope that it will hatch. I have seen them easily adopt
and raise orphaned chicks. I have also seen them set on the eggs of ducks, pheasants,
and even turkeys, then hatch and raise them with the same care they afford their own.
Japanese bantams
are another choice for docile, easy-to-handle birds. They are fant-
astic layers of tinted eggs, but are only average setters and mothers.
Japanese bantams have a unique physical trait called a
squirrel tail
; their tail feathers
bend forward then arch back. Combine that showy characteristic with their shorter-than-
average legs and you have a really unusual-looking bird. They appear to shuffle along
the ground on their short legs and provide raisers with a unique sight. Breeding for these
short legs is challenging, however, because it results from a gene that throws a lethal
element into normal breeding combinations (see box opposite).
Showing Japanese bantams can also be troubling. Many times, unless you've seen
the true-to-standard short-legged type up close, you will not produce the proper varieties
for showing. The ideal bird looks so unusual that you might not realize that its appear-
ance is what it is supposed to look like: it should have short, stubby legs and a curving
tail that rises clear over the top of the head.
Sebrights
are exceptionally petite, showy little chickens. True Sebrights are very
small and have a stocky body structure. Their small size makes the chicks very tiny
and hard to ship, so many hatchery birds are much larger than the accepted size. Once
you see a quality Sebright you will be fascinated by their petiteness and amazed at how
spunky and active they are for their size.
