Chickens
& Eggs Egg Laying Chicken Breeds Wondering what are the best hens to buy
for maximum egg production? And which hens will sit on a nest and care for baby chicks? Buy Baby Chickens All egg laying chickens start as peeps,
and raising your own hens from the time they are baby chickens is a
great way to ensure they are gentle and familiar with you.
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Small
Chicken Breeds: Bantam Hens Small chicken breeds are
known as
Bantams, and are enjoyed both as pets and novelty birds as well as
smaller-scale producers of eggs and meat. Bantam hens are about
one-fourth the size of regular chickens, and their eggs are smaller by
about half.
These tiny chickens require less food and can thrive in smaller spaces
than typical breeds, making them less costly to raise. They make
excellent 4-H projects and show chickens as well.
Some Bantams are true small chicken breeds and have no regular-size
counterparts and are of non-American origin. These include:
Serama (tiniest chicken breed)
Japanese
Belgian
Old English Game Bantams
Pekins (also called Cochins by many)
There are many varieties of the Japanese small chicken breeds,
including ray, buff black-tailed, black, mottled, gray, buff
black-tailed, white black tailed and white.
Other Bantam chickens are actually the small version of regular-size
breeds, but have been bred as a sort of “low-line” version, such as:
Welsummer
Araucana
Barnevelder
Barred Rock
Wyandotte
Leghorn
Sussex
Rhose Island Red
Silkie (largest of the small breeds)
Small chickens, including a few Bantam silkies with feathered feet,
have been my favorite to raise. The silkies were very gentle and let
the children pick them up and pet them all the time. They went broody
easily, so could be good seting hens as well.
Because of cross breeding and mixed breeds, Bantams and silkies
purchased from growers with mixed flocks living in the same space may
not be pure breeds. However, the diversity brings out some lovely
colors and characteristics in the birds and they still make great pets
and egg layers for your backyard flock.
Ready to get started on your backyard chicken flock with small breed
chickens? Learn How
to Build a Chicken Coop before you order your birds!
Raising laying hens is a fun adventure, and it can be quite satisfying
and
profitable too. Read more in Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens.
Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens
 Chickens The Chicken Health Handbook Keep Chickens: Tending Small Flocks
Chicken Coop Living Choosing and Keeping Chickens 
Egg Laying
Chickens Book Store
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