Bantam Belgians

The Belgians have long been enthusiastic about bantam chickens. The Belgian Bantams are true bantams as they have no large counterparts. There are numerous different breeds & colours of bantam (more appear regularly) and three types have been standardised in the UK - Barbu d'Anvers, Barbu d'Uccles & Barbu de Watermael together with the rumpless d'Anvers (Barbu du Grubbe) & d'Uccles (Barbu d'Everberg). Their 'Country of Origin' is sometimes given as The Netherlands, but nowadays this is considered to include the Flemish speaking part of Holland near the North of Belgium.

A Barbu d'Anvers first appeared in a C17th Dutch painting and in print in a French book at the start of the C19th. The rumpless version is a sub-breed and was first reported in 1904 as being spontaneously produced. D'Anvers are always rose-combed and clean legged. They are small, proud birds with their heads back & chest forward. The body is short & broad as is the back which leads to the tail which is carried high, almost upright. Wings are held so that they slope towards the ground. The beard has three parts, one each side of the face and the third below the chin. They are very quick on their feet and the cocks in particular have great presence. They sometimes have the habit of attacking anything in sight, but usually calm down with regular attention, once they are more used to their surroundings & routine, becoming quite tame & trusting with regular handling. They can fly a bit so containing them might be a consideration.

Barbu d'Uccles are more placid and easy going. On the continent they are known as Booted Bantams. They always have a single comb and feathered legs and are slightly larger than the d'Anvers, but otherwise very similar in characteristics.

The Barbu d'Watermael is the smallest of the three. They are very like the d'Anvers but with a crest, small rose comb, clean legs and a tail carried a bit lower.

Eggs are small and not plentiful. Birds are good sitters & mothers when they go broody. The eggs may hatch in 20 days.

We have two varieties of the Barbu d'Anvers and one of the Barbu d'Uccles:

Quail Barbu d'Anvers: The breast is a lovely golden brown, sometimes referred to as nankin, which is also in the breast & thighs. The cock has a black neck hackles but towards the top of the neck, feathers are more nankin colours with black stripes down the middle. His tail is black and has long sickle feathers. The hen is rather owl-like and paler than the cock. She has more of the nankin colour in the neck and the back feathers are the same colour with black centres & shafts. They have no wattles to speak of. Legs are blue-grey.

Silver Quail Barbu d'Anvers: These are the same as the quail, but with white replacing the golden brown nankin colour.