Old English Game Bantams
These wonderful little pocket birds originated in England many centuries ago. They are the scaled down version of the original game fowl used for cock fighting for centuries in England. When cock fighting was banned in 1835, and poultry shows became popular, these birds were then bred for exhibition. Popularity here in America has been steadily increasing since they became a standard breed in 1925. They are often the largest classes in the show room. This breed comes in a rainbow of colors. There are 24 accepted colors for show and several more that are in development.
Old English Game bantams are well known for their hardiness, vigor and longevity. They are active, good foragers. For this reason, they are great for keeping your gardens free of insects. They provide very good natural bug control, but will do little to no damage to your garden like large breeds might do.
The roosters are spunky, but not the die hard aggressive blood letters they once were. I have successfully kept several old english cocks together as well as with other cocks of different breeds. When Introducing new boys together, they may fight for a few days, but once they establish pecking order, they get along great as long as they have enough space to stay out of each other's way. The hens get along great with each other as well as other breeds. They can take care of themselves in the midst of larger breeds though, so don't think they are fragile.
Roosters weigh around 24 ounces. Hens weigh around 22 ounces.
Hens lay very small ( average 1 ounce) tinted eggs. They are not heavy layers, but do a fair job. Broodiness really depends on the individal hen. I have had some that go broody two to three times a year, while I have some that have never even dreamt of being broody their whole lives. I value the ones that do go broody as they are very good mothers.
Old English are wonderful show birds. They have alot of presence and style, they are calm and easy to handle, plus their small size makes it easier to have more than just a few.
One drawback to showing the cocks is that they must be dubbed. Dubbing is the practice of removing the comb, earlobes and wattles from the bird. Dubbing was originally done to the fighting cocks in order to make their heads smooth and less likely to get cut up during a fight. Dubbing has also been used to prevent combs and wattles from becoming frostbitten in winters. Although the old english game bantam is no longer used for cock fighting, dubbing is still required for showing purposes. According to many old english breeders, dubbing if done properly does not cause much trauma to the bird. I have yet to try dubbing, but realize that it is a necessary evil in this breed. If you can get past the dubbing, having a cock that you can show is very rewarding. The bonus of showing a cock is his enormous presence and attitude, not to mention his beauty! Your flock isn't complete without a old english cock or two or three!
This is my favorite breed! They are the calmest, sweetest birds and very people oriented.Young chicks tend to be spooky at first, but as they mature, they seem to discover that humans are not that bad after all. Of course, the more handling they get, the faster this will happen. These birds often let me walk right up to them and pick them up. They love to just hang out on your hand, shoulder or head! I am usually swarmed by these guys as soon as I step into the coop. You do need to watch your step when you have these birds as they are so small and tend to be right underfoot!
Currently, I am raising blues, but have added a ginger, goldneck, self blue and red breasted fawn to the flock for some fun colors and variety. These guys are my pets, but they are show quality birds. This year, I hatched several gorgeous babies from black, blue, brown red, lemon blue to fawn.
I will be running a pure blue flock by April through August at least. I will also run a blue cock with my various other colors of hens for a few months starting in April. If you are interested in eggs from either flock, please contact me. |
