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Anyone who likes chickens for more than wing dings and eggs cannot help but love the booted bantam chicken. More formally named the Dutch Booted Bantam, this tiny but gorgeous bird is popular all over Europe and in the new world as a show bird and as a pet. This breed is a true bantam, which means that it is not a miniature version of a larger breed, as many bantams are. Some say that these chickens were in the Netherlands as early as the 1500s, though others credit a later breeder in Belgium. It is a tiny bird, weighing less than two pounds for roosters and just over a pound and a half for hens. The American standard is smaller than these limits, which are rules for British breeders. The Booted Bantam is tiny, with the British show standards limiting cocks to thirty ounces and hens to no more than twenty seven ounces. The American Poultry Association standard sets even lighter weight for birds to be accepted in a show. The small size does not make this a fragile or sickly type, however. They are not hardy in cold weather but otherwise can take care of themselves just fine. Poultry standards are both interesting and necessary. While breeders have developed over twenty colors that will 'breed true', the official standards only admit eleven in Britain and seventeen in the United States. The standards are designed to keep show birds true not only in color and feathering but also to the physical characteristics that have been shown to be best for healthy and productive poultry flocks. For instance, there is a broad backed and high breasted shape that makes for a good layer, and that is one thing that judges look for. While these extremely beautiful chickens are bred for showing, they make great pets. They are not hardy so need to be protected from the cold, but otherwise are good foragers and easy to keep in the outside garden. The people who have had them say their fluffy feet, the 'boots' that give them their name, keep them from scratching up gardens as much as most domestic fowl. The cocks are proud but if hand raised are neither timid or aggressive around children or adults. In fact, many love to be picked up and will stand around close so you can admire them. This kind of fowl does well either in confinement or roaming the yard, where they are good at foraging. If they are to be shown, they need to be penned in a place with soft, clean bedding to protect their fabulous feathers, especially on the fluffy legs and feet that give them their name. Although they do not have much meat on their frames, what they do have is well-proportioned. Their value is more ornamental than utilitarian, though, so check them out for their beauty and their charm. Online sites have great pictures of the more popular varieties, such as the Millefleur. You will not believe your eyes when you see how splendid some of the birds are, although they also come in black and in white, where their shape and gracefulness is the main attraction. The Booted Bantam chicken is truly a marvel. Even if just for fun, do a search on this sprightly little bird.
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