PEKIN BANTAMS
Pekin Bantams came to Britain in about the 1860 from a place called Pekin in China. The Pekin is a true Bantam as it has no larger counterpart, however in America it is often referred to as the Cochin Bantam.
Your first impression of Pekin will be a ball of feathers on legs. The birds are short broad and have an abundant of soft fluffy feathers. Their legs are also covered in feathers giving the impression that they have none. The Pekin Bantams is perhaps the most popular of all the bantam breeds. This mainly due to the fact that they are so placid and soon become very tame.
They are in fact a small Chicken with a lot of character. As they are small and don't fly they are ideal for almost any type of garden and do very little damage to plants. The hens do lay eggs and a good number although they are smaller than your average egg they have a big orange yolk and the kids love them.
The Pekin is famous for being a good broody and will hatch and rear its own young with great success and there is no better site than seeing a hen walking around the lawn followed by a group of young, of course to bred you will need a cockerel and although they do crow it is relatively soft. the Pekin has been bred in a number of colours. Lavender, Red, Black, Mottled, White,Buff, Partridge columbian and may other colours. The pekin bantam will not fail to please you and you will soon find your self wanting more.
LAVENDER HEN
The Lavender Pekin was introduced to Britain from Holland. The lavender is a very popular colour the body should be a light Lavender colour all over.
RED HEN
The red should be a deep red-brown all over which should be rich in colour
WHITE HEN
The white should be as pure as snow without any yellow. This also a popular colour
MOTTLED HEN
The mottled can be either black and white or blue and white.
BLACK HEN
The Black is at present rear colour. The colour has a blue sheen to it when the sun reflects on it. The chicks start of as being black and white. You may also get a few mottled out of each batch
BUFF HEN
Some birds may be lighter than others. The all over colour should be a rich buff