Old English Game Bantam

I have 2 flocks, one is a mix of OEGB and the other is pure OEGB BBR, they are beautiful birds, they free range, i love their personalities, watching them fly, i think they have very wild instincts, they are very inteligent, smart little birds. Some months ago i had this episode, I had a hawk attacking my flock for nearly a month, the hens had chicks, before i knew he killed 5 chicks of different mothers, then i started to watch them to protect them and i was amazed! They learned to escape the hawk, i saw several times the hawk trying to catch the chicks, but they managed to get away,they became very alert to all moviments in the sky, and would run or fly for cover in bushes very fast, the younger chicks would use sometimes camuflage laying still below the grass, and if the hawk got near the chicks the hen would attack him, then all that noise will attract the roosters attention and they would chase the hawk away, the hawk finely got bored and never returned again.

Quite frankly, this breed was never on my radar, until I got one hen as a freebie from a hatchery. She looked like a chipmunk, was half the size of the other chicks she arrived with, and a pure source of entertainment from the start. As a first time chicken owner, I tried to pick up Miss Sophie and tame her, but she had better things to mind than be my little cuddle buddy, so I just let her be. Imagine my surprise when I placed all of them into the coop at two month old, and suddenly she started seeking contact with me. Soon, she just flew on my shoulders, and loved to be held. If I dared putting her on the ground, she would fly up to me again for more cuddles. Sadly, she fell victim to a raccoon, and I learned overnight that one can get as easily attached to a chicken, as to any other pet. I have "replaced" her with other Old English Game bantams (of course, she can never really be replaced), and, although they are not quite as affectionate as Miss Sophie was, but they do come close.

This last order had some roosters in the box, and they have just been a hilarious addition to the flock. These tiny roosters have the self-confidence of peacocks, love to crow their hearts out with their tiny, high pitched voices, and are complete gentlemen to the ladies. I have watched them scratch for tasty crawlers, picking them up, and offering them to their hens. When some of my hens wander into the front yard (which is technically off-limits to my chickens), there is always at least one rooster chaperoning them. Occasionally, I step into the backyard, and see all my roosters sitting on my roof (that's a two story flight from the back). All this, and they are still contempt when I pick them up.

All in all, they make great pets and are the clowns of the fowl family!

I have 1 OEGB that I got from TSC. When we were there, the entire brood of assorted bantams had just arrived. Aparently, the truck driver stopped at a hotel for the night (atleast, I think that's what the person said) and forgot them in the truck overnight with no food, water, and heat. Keep in mind, this was early April, and it was super cold. Two chicks of an unknown breed were already dead, and several others looked nearly there. then.... We heard splashing. Of course, only my dopey little girl would be running through the water, half drowning herself (thankfully, she has become considerably smarter over these past 9 months) she looked like a (wet) chipmunk! She was running around, eating and drinking, and was totally hyper. We just couldn't leave without the adorable little girl.

Soon, Chipmunk went out into the coop, and was flying out of the pen! And the fence has to be around six feet tall! So, my dad put chicken wire over the top. Now we don't have any more escaping problems.

Whenever I enter the pen, she rushes to me and jumps on my shoulder. (Or head, or back, or arm, she's not picky) And I end up doing the chicken chores with her sitting on me. She loves being cuddled, and is always sweet to everyone.
I don't have a big problem with how small the eggs are. (I think of chickens as 'pets with benefits') But my flock leader, Sky, can't stand her it seems. Chipmunk kept getting pecked on the face, (Or in her eyes, or beak... Sky isn't very picky either.) But, at the end of the night, they make amends.
I sometimes see her snuggled up under my large Buff Orpington, Q's, wing at night.

Here's some pictures of her:
Snuggling with her BFF (Best Feathered Friend) Hershey. (Chipmunk is on the left)


Chipmunk in the snow.

Chipmunk eating. (The white chicken is Sky, the BO closest to Hershey is Q)

Chipmunk giving Q her queen-like glare.

Chipmunk standing on a hay bale.

And flying off.

We decided after three years of having our standard hens to try bantams. Our birds are free range and we have a lot of hawks, falcons, coyotes, foxes, etc, so we wanted birds that would be very alert and good at avoiding danger. After some research, we settled on ordering in some Old English Game chicks. Honestly I expected the birds to be flighty and hard to tame, but they certainly proved me wrong! We ended up with 10 bantams, 9/10 being OEG bantams. Now, we love our older hens are golden comets and it took them about two years for each to learn her name. All of our OEGs already know their names, come when called, and they all love sitting around us. Just yesterday I ended up with one of our roosters and one of our hens falling asleep in my lap. They are very sweet, making very odd little noises, are very personable, goofy, alert, and intelligent.

However, our little game bantams do have some problems controlling their curiosity, and now we've had chickens roosting on the shelves on our back porch, up in trees, on the roof, and all the places the little monsters aren't supposed to be! While this can be kind of, ah, annoying when we end up with chicken poos in some odd places. Other than that they are intelligent, friendly little birds that are a joy to have around.

I was given a pair last spring, that have grown into a flock of 11. The hen has been broody three time since I got her, and is a great mother. They are lots of fun to watch, but the cockerels love to fight. We had to cull several roosters, because all they did was fight. They even challenged the large fowl roos.

i loved my Silver phoenix Old English Bantam!

Until I met Marans, this was my all time favorite breed. I had every color at one point. Great foragers, great pets. Most of the roosters were sweet as could be, and that seemed to be hereditary.

The hens were reasonable layers of white eggs and excellent mothers. Boys and girls alike can fly well. They handle confinement well, but only if there is a roof! They tend to tame easily and lead by example, hen raised chicks learning the human means no harm. The broodies take their job seriously, being diligent and sometimes aggressive. Some will even steal eggs from other nests, more than they can handle, and they will set until something hatches, even if they're setting golf balls.

Fun little birds with likable personalities.

Wonderful little birds. They make me smile every time I see them. They are beautiful, and are surprisingly good layers for their size.

I would recommend this breed to anyone who wants a cute, cuddly, small backyard chicken. They are just that great.

I love my OEGBs. They are absolutely beautiful, and very friendly too! My OEG hens are surprisingly great layers of white eggs, but they are small. Also they can fly very well. That can be positive for people in rural areas that need a bird that can withstand predators, but a negative for people in the suburbs or urban areas (which wing trimming can easily fix). I give these birds five stars, since I don't care about how large the eggs are and need a bird that can withstand predators.

The sweetest rooster I have ever had.

Along with the Speckled Sussex, our OEG bantam is our favorite of seven breeds. She is such a sweet little thing with a lovely voice. She is the only bantam in the flock and often forages alone or apart from the others, but is not picked on. We just love this little bird! She's a good layer and her eggs are surprisingly large (given her tiny body size). There are only two drawbacks for us though. Before we clipped her wings, she'd fly up onto the neighbor's garage. We were nervous about this for a number of reasons (the neighbor has dogs being one). She is also very broody. Lately she's been escaping from the chicken run and making a nest in the front yard under the bushes. At first I thought she'd been carried away by a hawk or cat, but found her sitting on her little nest. She had covered four eggs with leaves and was sitting on them. We don't have a rooster and it breaks my heart to see how badly she wants to parent! I put the eggs in the coop nest for a day, then substituted plastic Easter eggs for them. Am hoping she won't try to escape again! I HIGHLY recommend this breed.

i own an old English game rooster and he is the sweetest chicken I've ever seen!!!!!!!! he will even come when called! GET ONE!

They are such a joy to have. I have a female and a male and they both are extremely freindly. They hop on my hand and crawl up to my shoulder Very wonderful chickens to have ! Plus they are pocket size .

I love my OEGB, they are the smallest chickens I've ever owned. Their shear size is intriguing. These are fantastic chickens that I would recommend to just about anyone. They are a little flighty but can be tamed fairly easily. I love the crowing from Otis my BBRed rooster (funny) - because he's so small its ridiculous and he really tries and not much of a sound comes out, it's like ERR *BLANK* Ehh

I had 2 pair of very sweet Old English Game Bantams! The roosters were even more tame and personable than the hens! The hens are happy to be on the nest (and are often sharing it with a larger hen) to the point that I would take them off the nest to check for eggs and not reach under them! They do not like that! They are very protective of their eggs! I have never let them set so I can not speak from experience for them as mothers, but I feel confident they would be very good, protective mothers as well. They are very charming, curious chickens and I would love to always have some in my flock!!

I believe I bought them in the middle of the summer of 2010 and I bought them at 1-3 days old so I only paid $1.00/ea.

I have one Old English Game Bantam rooster. I know others that people have and the all seem very friendly. Every time I go in the run he flies up on my arm or shoulder to get treats. They are very small bantams (super cute). They are great for pets. I am going to try to teach mine tricks He can fly higher and for longer than any other of my bantams.

Cant say anything truly bad about these guys.

Our Cadbury is our sweetest chicken out of the 18 we have. She chases us around the yard wanting to be picked up. She is very tiny, at 8 weeks old she's barely the size of a robin. She is a tough little bird though....always holds her ground with treats. I think it's very humorous to watch all the bigger chicks jumping all over each other to get to food and water but Cadbury just walks right up underneath all of them and helps herself. Highly recommended.

I love these little guys although I do not own any at present Im very interested in owning some. So someone plz contact me at [email protected] as I am interested in the Old English Game!

Nobody can turn as ordinary occurence in to a five alarm emergency like an OEGB. Those who have some know what I mean. The ARE noisy, but that is part of the fun. They are great and protective moms. If I could have only one breed of chickens, these would probably not be the ones (I do have to consider egg production), but they would certainly be number two. I never want to be without them.