Do bantams interbreed with normal sized chickens

Date sort Score sort
birdsofthefarm

birdsofthefarm

Songster
10 Years
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Messages
325
Reaction score
5
Points
119
Location
Grayson County, TX
Do bantams interbreed with normal sized chickens? We got a rooster a few weeks ago and now one of our bantams is sooooo broody she screams and bites if I try to take a egg from her
 
If they "physically" can, I believe they will. Although you dont want a standard chicken (or somewhere in between) ending up in a bantam sized egg. It probably wouldnt make it. I assume if the hen was the standard and the roo had a ladder things might be able to work...

your hen will go broody whether there is a roo in there or not, even with unfertilized eggs.
 
I am startin to hope Ive got one{chick}
big_smile.png
 
I can tell you yes it is possible at least with a bantam hen and a normal size rooster. I don't think it will harm the chick being larger, nature seems to compensate for that. I had a white leghorn rooster mate with our bantam sussex hen , she only sat on one egg but it hatched and I got a mini leghorn rooster.
 
Yes they can, and will, and do, and I have their MEDIUM-SIZED offspring to prove it!

I would think their accuracy rate would be better if the hen & roo are more of a match for size. And a large roo might be too heavy or rough for a really delicate little hen. A little roo can mate with a large hen, but he will need the hen to be really compliant & patient.

When chickens mate the hen will crouch on the ground and lift her tail. The roo stands on her back and only needs to get his cloaca to meet the hen's cloaca for what seems like an instant. Nothing is inserted.

It can be hilarious to watch. Once I saw a bantam roo approach a standard sized hen. She was a willing partner, crouching down with her tail up. But the roo was inept, grabbing the hen by the back of her neck with his beak, and scrooching his bottom backwards trying to meet up with her cloaca. Only he was too short to make his tail-parts touch hers. The minutes ticked past while he continued to hold on with his beak and wriggled his butt around. Finally, the hen had enough and stood up, with the roo still hanging on. They looked like a rodeo act, the hen turning around & around trying to shake the roo off her back, and him hanging on tight, flapping his wings for balance. Ride 'em, cowboy!
 
I also wanted to mention that you can give the broody bantam standard-sized eggs to incubate, if you have other large hens. She doesn't have to incubate her own bantam eggs.
 

Similar threads

S
Annoying broody hen.
Replies
8
Views
359
Sloane Chickens
S
ChickaGalaxy
    • Like
Does this bantam egg have a chance to hatch?
Replies
3
Views
2K
Susan Skylark
Susan Skylark
W
    • Like
30 day broodiness
Replies
4
Views
703
Wendyjs
W
A
    • Like
Hatch one left behind
Replies
3
Views
739
Chicken_Obsesser
Chicken_Obsesser
WannabeHomsteader
Future Broody Questions
Replies
8
Views
1K
Tex452
Tex452

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom