Roosters are wonderful beings. They protect their hens, share food with them, and look after chicks after the hens abandon them to burgeoning adulthood. The problem with free range chickens when roosters are involved is that you end up with more chickens, and more roosters. And while roosters are wonderful, they don't play well in groups.
Small roosters, however, are easier to deal with. And I am totally enthralled with my Seabright bantams. So every hen that's gone broody this year has had Seabright eggs substituted for those they start with, and I now have 10 chicks growing up under those hens. The fact that the chicks are a variety of colors probably means the hens haven't been solely getting the attentions of the Seabright cocks.
My young Golden Seabright hen with one of her chicks. The other one is black.
Aren't these the cutest chicks? Foster mom is one of my best mother hens. She's also taking care of the 4 chicks I bought (all females) as future egg layers. These bantams lay tiny eggs - great if you want to make a partial recipe, and need 1/4 egg.
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