Bantams are miniature chickens, either with or without larger counterparts; for example, the RIR (Rhode Island Red) is available in both bantam and full-size versions; the Gold and Silver Sebrights only occur in bantam sizes.

What are the advantages of bantams versus the large breeds? They take less space in the garden, are generally more exciting – they can fly much more easily than most of the bigger breeds – and quite often tend to go broody and make better mothers than some of the big breeds. So if you are likely to buy or produce hatching eggs, Light Sussex bantams can save you the cost of an incubator and will look after the chicks to boot!

If you are considering hatching some replacement chickens from your own eggs, there are several options for hatching them. You can be natural and use a broody hen, or use a small incubator designed for home use.

My personal preference is for a broody bantam to hatch the eggs. Using the right breed (I just totally rate the Light Sussex) then the hen will keep the eggs at the right temperature, and as the chicks develop in the eggs she will spend time away from the nest to prevent the chicks overheating. Once the chicks hatch, she will keep them warm in cold weather, look after them and treat them like chicks should be treated. She will scratch for insects and seeds, call the chicks to her when she finds a particularly tasty treat, and give an alarm when cats or crows appear!

There are many reasons to keep chickens, but keeping hens for eggs are the traditional reason.

If this is the main reason for you to keep hens, then you should select your breed or variety accordingly. The traditional large breeds were dual-purpose; they laid a good few eggs, but not as many as the lighter varieties. They also had a tendency to go broody, which was essential before incubators became freely available to keep the cost of chicks down for the average hen-keeper. They also enabled the keeper to eat some small birds during the summer, and gave the option to fatten some birds for Christmas – turkeys were not always the main Christmas meal in the UK.