Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
These traits make participating in a poultry show satisfying for young children.
With bantam Cochins, kids can prove to the judge that they are able to handle and
care for the chickens, whereas other birds are often difficult for youth to control.
More importantly, these birds give the young 4-Her a chance to gain bird-handling
confidence. And once they feel confident, a young person can move on to handling
larger, more challenging birds.
Backyard Birds
Bantams are perhaps an ideal choice for the person who has a small backyard, wants just
a few chickens, and has no desire to see their yard destroyed by large roaming chick-
ens. A few bantams released in the backyard and allowed to peck at the insects around
the flowers and vegetables, and at the long grass, will not damage the property. As with
any chicken breed, of course, you should never turn them out on the freshly planted or
young garden. The garden must be well established if it is to withstand from gleaning
poultry. If you see that damage is starting to occur, you can give the plants a chance to
repair themselves by not turning the birds out for a few days.
The advantages of allowing bantams to range in your garden are many. They are won-
derful for catching insects; they think slugs, worms, and the other pests eating your pro-
duce are delectable garden fare. If you have only a few of these ornamental birds, they
can be left out most of the time and will not cause a great deal of damage.
You must, of course, keep the size of your yard in mind when deciding how many
bantams to keep. If you have a half-dozen bantams in a typical city or suburban back-
yard, you're going to do fine. If you try to cram 50 or 100 bantams in the same backyard,
they're going to eat all your grass and trample on things. It is just a simple matter of
keeping the numbers beneficially relative to the space.
Meat and Eggs
I've said before that watching bantams peck around in your lawn and garden can be en-
gaging; it's also true that they can provide many an egg and, in some cases, a fair amount
of meat for family consumption. Even though their body size is small, one can butcher
bantams for a reasonably sized half- to 1-pound (0.2-0.5 kg) carcass that will serve one
or two people. The popular Cornish game hen is nothing more than a Cornish bantam
selected for its large breast size.
Egg production from bantams is nearly equal to that of large fowl, and will keep you
happy as long as you're willing to accept that the eggs are about one-third the size of a
standard chicken egg and adjust your recipes accordingly. Bantam eggs provide just as
much nutrition per volume as do large hen's eggs. The more you allow your bantams to
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