Monday, February 21, 2011

Sammy's bantams




Sammy's bantams are Japanese bantams , the white hens with black tails are Japanese bantams and the red hen is a pekin bantam. The pekin breed originally was from china. The pekin has feathered legs. He had a pekin rooster but we culled him yesterday. He had 7 roosters and that would never work so he gave 5 roosters to Donnie his cousin. He kept 2 rooster in the pen and even though he doesn't realize it one will have to be culled soon as for the hens I believe other than the one pekin they are all Japanese bantam hens.
The Japanese Bantam, also known in many parts of the world as Chabo, is a breed of chicken originating in Japan. They are a bantam breed, with large upright tails that often reach over the chicken's head. The wings angle down and to the back along the sides.
The Pekin is a breed of bantam chicken. Shorter than the ordinary bantam, they are often only 20-30 centimeters tall (with head upright) and their feet and legs are completely covered by their feathers

The Chabo has graced the gardens of the Japanese aristocracy for well over 350 years. Historical evidence suggests that the Japanese Bantam originated in Southeast Asia, where it is still raised today. They enjoy a high degree of popularity in Malaysia, and are very common in Java, which is now part of Indonesia.

Japanese Bantams began to appear in Japanese art around the year 1635, right about the time Japan closed its shores to outside trade. It also appears in Dutch art of the same era. This suggests that Dutch spice traders probably carried the Chabo as gifts to the Japanese from the Asian spice ports, such as Hoi An (Vietnam) and likely from Java, which part of Dutch colonial area on that time. The very word "chabo" originates in Java as chabol (Cebol) , where it means "dwarf" and applies both to humans, and to the short-legged Chabo chicken. In Japan, the word would drop the "L," as no speaker of Japanese would be inclined to pronounce it.

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