BRAHMA AND MALAY BANTAMS. 



531 



The Dark hen should be a broken bkiish gre)', 

 what is called a steel grey ground-colour, dis- 

 tinctly and sharply pencilled with black, down 

 from the throat and extending over the fluff as 

 much as possible, the ground-colour and pencil- 

 ling being the chief points, together with abund- 

 ance of feather especially on feet and toes. 



In breeding Dark Brahma Bantams, the best 

 course to pursue is to use two pens ; in fact, 

 wherever the colouring of the male bird in any 

 breed differs materially from that of 

 Breeding the female, the double system of 



B^S!s. mating is preferable, and in some 

 cases imperative. For cockerel mat- 

 ing, I should require the soundest coloured exhi- 

 bition specimen I could compass, no tips of 

 white or lacing on the black parts, but the 

 colours sharp and decided, with no intermingling 

 of straw, brassy, or bronze coloured feathers any- 

 where. The pullets or hens to go with him need 

 not be up to exhibition standard in colour. 

 Size, or rather the want of it, extra silvery 

 hackle, abundance of feather, and correct shape 

 are the desiderata. If your hens are a little 

 washed out, either in ground or pencilling, it 

 hardly matters, as they will produce good 

 cockerels, i.e. if they are of a reliable strain. 

 Remember that in all your breeding " strain " 

 has most to do with success or failure. Now 

 and again birds apparently fulfilling all demands 

 for the breeding-pen come to hand, and some 

 are tempted to use them, judging purely by 

 appearance only ; but the produce often clearly 

 indicates that they have been bred anyhow, and 

 were altogether worthless. 



In pullet-breeding the order must be reversed. 

 The cock should have all the qualifications 

 described before, except that if he shows a little 

 lacing on breast, and fluff, and even on the 

 wing-bar, all the better ; it is indicative that he 

 has come of a pullet-breeding strain. But the 

 pullets to go with him should have no such flaws 

 in colour. They should be extra good in ground- 

 colour and pencilling all over the body, breast, 

 back, and even fluff as far as possible. From 

 the produce it would be advisable to save three 

 of the best coloured and marked pullets, and 

 also a couple of the best cockerels, and if these 

 are mated together another season you will 

 thus establish for yourself a thoroughly reliable 

 pullet-breeding strain, whilst you are improv- 

 ing ground-colour and pencilling, and also 

 reducing the size considerably. 



Lights hardly require the dual system, the 

 feathering of cock and hen being similar in 

 colour. A cock with a medium shade of hackle 

 should be used, by which I mean the striping 

 should not be too heavy, nor \ct the hackle 



altogether too silvery, but about even quantity 

 of both. Let what there is of the striping be 

 sharp and dense, not washed out nor mealy. 

 He should be a good colour throughout, have 

 plenty of feather, and be a good shape, and his 

 head should be Ai as to comb and wattle, lobe 

 and eye. To such a bird should be mated four 

 pullets, not more. Two I should select fine in 

 striping, and sharply but not too densely striped 

 in saddle and neck hackles. Two others should 

 be as sound in white on back and wings as can 

 be procured, and white in under-fluff, but the 

 pullet-breeders will require to be as broad in 

 hackle striping as possible, dense, and well 

 defined. From such a pen as this, both good 

 cockerels and pullets should result. Of course, 

 two separate strains could soon be established, 

 the one for cockerel- and the other pullet-breed- 

 ing, but where such can be avoided it gives the 

 breeder a chance of raising more chickens that 

 are likely to turn out winners ; for by the other 

 plan all the cockerels on one side, and all the 

 pullets on the other, though invaluable from a 

 breeding point of view, would be unfit for the 

 exhibition pen where the competition was good. 

 Brahma Bantams require the same kind of 

 accommodation as Booted and Pekin Bantams. 

 The main thing in their upbringing is to find 

 them a run where the foot-feather can be pre- 

 served intact, no small consideration with all 

 foot-feathered breeds. 



The Malay is, or ought to be, wholly different 

 in points from our English Game, and in the 

 big breeds it undoubtedly is so ; but I regret to 

 say that in Bantamising these birds 

 Malay a great deal of Game Bantam blood 



Bantams. seems to have been introduced, and 

 in consequence there are many birds 

 passing under the nomenclature of Malay Ban- 

 tams which do not bear as they should do the 

 principal characteristics of the larger fowl, of 

 which they purport to be dwarfs. Therefore, in 

 judging Malays great care is required, and 

 adjudicators should go as much as possible for 

 Malay type, rigorously rejecting all that show 

 strong traces of the " base " origin. A Malay 

 Bantam should first show type, shape, and car- 

 riage ; then head points, size, and colour. The 

 latter is only a secondary consideration, for no 

 matter how small, and of what colour, if type, 

 carriage, and general character be wanting the 

 bird is not a true Malay. Malay Bantams are, 

 as a rule, too large, hence the temptation to 

 dwarf them by crossing with the Game Bantam. 

 Still, good true-typed small specimens are to be 

 found here and there at some of the best shows, 

 and when so found, as Captain Cuttle says, 



