Egg Production in Bantam Hens…
2 Jun
“I am a suburbanite and although chickens are legal I have limited space for my coop. Therefore, I am curious about bantam breeds and wonder if any have been breed for egg production (quantity and/or size), or do we just assume that their production will mirror the larger breed for which they represent in miniature? Thanks,” ~ Dave w.
Hi Dave,
Thanks for the question.
In general, a bantam’s egg production will indeed mirror their standard size counterpart. Depending on the breed, a bantam’s egg will be ¼ to ½ the size of a regular egg. In contrast, the ratio of yolk to albumen is larger in a bantam egg. No egg white omelets here.
In considering your question for this week’s issue, I realized that we have never discussed bantams in any detail so I thought this might be a good time to pass on some general information to those readers who are considering raising bantam chickens.
For those who are unfamiliar, bantams are small chickens ranging in size from 1 to 3 pounds when fully grown.
They originated in the Bantam region of Java but any small variety of fowl became known as “bantam” after they were introduced in Europe.
The term “bantam” includes both miniature versions of standard breeds as well as true bantams which are breeds that have no standard size counterpart. (more…)


































