5-'6 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



Booted Bantams are an ancient breed whose 

 popularity has revived, but do not make the 

 progress one would Hke to see, although classes 



are often provided for them at the 

 Booted chief shows, and as a rule are fairly 



Bantams. well supported. There are several 



varieties of them, but the most popu- 

 lar are Whites and Blacks. Whites are lovely 

 birds, but there is the usual extra trouble with 

 them : they are more difficult to keep from sun 

 tan, and foot-feather stain. Where however this 

 can be satisfactorily done, and the breeder does 

 not mind the trouble incurred, Whites are a 

 most taking, and I think will also prove a very 

 profitable variety. 



Booted Bantams at present resemble the 

 Pekin rather too much. They are, or ought to 

 be, quite distinct in some respects, especially 

 " carriage." The Pekin has its wings tucked in 

 tightly, like the Cochin, but the Booted should 

 have them longer, and drooping almost per- 

 pendicularly ; the tail elevated, though not too 

 near the head, that of the cock with good length 

 of sickles and side hangers. He is longer in leg 

 too, though the common fault is to have them 

 too long ; and with length of leg there is often 

 too much size. In-breeding and late-breeding 

 are the panacea for this evil. If these two 

 methods are pursued, size must come down. 

 Also by in-breeding the foot-feather, and hock- 

 feather, would be easily maintained. The 

 variety is single-combed, and should be red 

 lobed. Lobes splashed with white are not 

 infrequent, but it is a serious defect. The face 

 and wattles are cherry red, the latter not too 

 large, and well rounded. The back should 

 be very short, the neck short and curved, the 

 breast prominent. This makes the carriage 

 much more erect than that of the Pekin. The 

 hock should be "vulture," that is, contain stiff 

 and long feathers, the legs and feet should have 

 an abundance of feather, and especially the 

 middle toe, right down to the nail. 



In mating up a pen, which will breed both 

 cockerels and pullets of show calibre, see that 

 you have your birds extra short-backed, with 

 any amount of shank, hock, and foot-feather. 

 See that the lobes are a good coral, and the 

 comb a medium size, well pointed. In Blacks 

 the under colour or fluff should in first-class 

 specimens be dark right down to the skin. 

 Reject white fluffed birds ; it is a mistake breed- 

 ing from these. A cross of Blacks and Whites 

 is useful for the remedy of any straw or creamy 

 tinge in the white birds, but any Blacks that 

 come from the cross will have white fluff, and it 

 is not advisable to keep them. The Whites 

 may have a bluish tinge on the leg from the 



cross, but this can easily be bred out the follow- 

 ing season by keeping exclusively to Whites, 

 and recrossing the half-bred with a whole-bred 

 White. Mark the White-bred Blacks when you 

 can, or you may have some trouble with them. 

 If you bred from them too much it is probable 

 you would get white in foot-feather and tail, 

 and the objectionable grey in fluff, which is 

 a serious failing. 



There is a sub-variety whiskered or muffled. 

 Many people would not care for these. Some- 

 how a muffled fowl to many carries a kind of 

 mongrel appearance with it. Splashed and 

 spangled Booted are occasionally seen, but they 

 do not make progress. One can well imagine 

 that if almost perfect specimens could be bred, 

 they might be extremely beautiful, and might 

 catch on. So far they are under a cloud. 



Hatch out Booted Bantams from April to end 

 of June or July; they will then do very well. 

 They thrive as chickens with ordinary care, 

 and are hardy, but of course the more you 

 in-breed to reduce size, the more delicate the 

 produce becomes. A little difficulty may 

 possibly arise in the matter of obtaining fertile 

 eggs, but this need not arise if proper pre- 

 cautions be taken, and the physical disability 

 from the long foot-feather of the cock be 

 removed. Nothing need be done to the hens, 

 but most of the foot-feather of the male should 

 be removed with a pair of scissors. This of 

 course ruins the bird for that season's exhibitions, 

 but one cannot both breed successfully and show 

 at the same time. If you persist in exhibiting 

 at the breeding season, you will have to reap the 

 fruits in delicate chicks or no chicks at all. 

 Three hens will be sufficient for each cock. 



In keeping Booted, as in Pekins and Brahmas, 

 some extra provision must be made in the runs 

 and houses by way of preserving intact the 

 foot-feather. The runs should be covered 

 wholly or in part. It would never do to let 

 the birds tramp about on wet sticky soil, and 

 the way to avoid this is by a roof to the runs. 

 Then the run should' be boarded, say about 

 1 8 inches from the ground. This will shield 

 the birds from inclement weather, high winds, 

 etc., and be productive of more fertility and 

 earlier eggs. The bottom of the run should 

 contain fine sea sand, or river sand, to the 

 depth of four or five inches, or in lieu of this 

 some soft material such as oat husks, or what 

 is known by the name of " seeds " or chaff, 

 wherewith to make a soft footing. The oat 

 husks referred to can generally be procured 

 from a miller at about 3d. or 4d. per sack. 

 The inside of the house should be treated just 

 the same as the run. There need be no perches. 



