The distinctive Belgian Bantam By Will Burdett
(writing in Fur & Feather 17 April 1980)
On the subject of roots, very little is known of the origins of our bantams, the true bantams that is, but it is certain that Dwarf fowls and ducks have been known for thousands of years. W B Tegetmeier, the nineteenth-century poultry breeder, naturalist and associate of Charles Darwin, was probably nearest to the ancestry when he wrote in his The Poultry Book (London 1873) thus: "It is necessary to recognise that there are great variations in the size of poultry and that the bantam does not differ nearly so much in this respect from the Original Wild Fowl as do many of our large fowl breeds." The following description of Gallus Bankiva or Ferrugineus is therefore interesting - the cock measures from the tip of the beak to the tip of the tail about 26in - the length of the closed wing is 8in - the leg or tibia is 4in long - the spur 1 to 1½in and the weight of the bird is about 2½lb. The hen is only 18in long, the length of the tail 7in and the weight about 2lb. It is reasonable to assume therefore that the result of domestication in poultry has been to increase the size and weight of body to say in the Brahma male to an average 12lb, which represents over the average Jungle Fowl an increase of 400 per cent. In the case of diminution of bantams, the Japanese for instance, the decrease in size is only 10oz or 28 per cent thus the Deviation from the Wild Fowl is very much less in the bantam than in larger breeds of poultry. From this and experiences in other directions we are justified in assuming that Dwarf Fowls have been known from time immemorial and that the breeds of bantams as we know them in these days are in the first place the result of natural variations.
(writing in Fur & Feather 17 April 1980)
On the subject of roots, very little is known of the origins of our bantams, the true bantams that is, but it is certain that Dwarf fowls and ducks have been known for thousands of years. W B Tegetmeier, the nineteenth-century poultry breeder, naturalist and associate of Charles Darwin, was probably nearest to the ancestry when he wrote in his The Poultry Book (London 1873) thus: "It is necessary to recognise that there are great variations in the size of poultry and that the bantam does not differ nearly so much in this respect from the Original Wild Fowl as do many of our large fowl breeds." The following description of Gallus Bankiva or Ferrugineus is therefore interesting - the cock measures from the tip of the beak to the tip of the tail about 26in - the length of the closed wing is 8in - the leg or tibia is 4in long - the spur 1 to 1½in and the weight of the bird is about 2½lb. The hen is only 18in long, the length of the tail 7in and the weight about 2lb. It is reasonable to assume therefore that the result of domestication in poultry has been to increase the size and weight of body to say in the Brahma male to an average 12lb, which represents over the average Jungle Fowl an increase of 400 per cent. In the case of diminution of bantams, the Japanese for instance, the decrease in size is only 10oz or 28 per cent thus the Deviation from the Wild Fowl is very much less in the bantam than in larger breeds of poultry. From this and experiences in other directions we are justified in assuming that Dwarf Fowls have been known from time immemorial and that the breeds of bantams as we know them in these days are in the first place the result of natural variations.
