But what exactly is a True Bantam?

Grant Brereton takes a closer look at these spectacular small chickens

- Grant Brereton

The first time I heard the word ‘bantam’ was when my mum used to talk of keeping chickens in the garden when she was a child. They were no doubt crossbred little fowl of varying ancestry. In those days the average poultry keeper would regard all small chickens as bantams. This still goes on today, and really is only wrong if we’re getting technical. No doubt many out there would argue the case that all small chickens are actually bantams, but let me explain where the differences lie…

Almost all poultry breeds, particularly the dual-purpose ones, began as what we now refer to as ‘large fowl’ – to delineate the difference between the two available sizes in many breeds, where there is small and large version. Really, you have the original standard-sized breed and then the miniature version of that breed (what people refer to as bantam). Example: the two available options of the following breed are New Hampshire Red and New Hampshire Red miniatures. The miniatures are supposed to be a certain percentage of their parent breed in body size, and be representative of that breed in every aspect. So, if the parent breed is a good layer, the miniature version should also be a good layer and so on.

But the word ‘bantam’ has a nice ring to it, and for many people is preferable to ‘miniature.’ And although the assumption should be that unless you specify that the breed you keep is miniature, then it is the large (original) counterpart. It all gets a bit silly really, and people will always refer to standard-sized breeds as large fowl and miniatures as bantams. It’s been that way for a long time and keeps things simple; I can’t see it changing any time soon!

TRUE BANTAMS