There are over 600 breeds, and the color variations within each breed are almost endless. They are the ideal size for the junior to start out with. For more complete information you will need to email Eric Markley or consult the American Bantam Association Standard or the American Poultry Association Standard of Perfection. There are 15 basic groups that all exhibition poultry fit into, but we will only cover the bantams on this page. The bantams are most commonly referred to as banties to just about everyone in the United States, although there are very few true bantams.
True bantams are mostly only for exhibition.
The reason for this is that most true bantams lay very small eggs and very few eggs. They also have no large fowl counterparts. Along with having very small bodies for meat production, bantams are just not big enough for slaughter. These are small birds usually having a good personality. They have very long legs and will stand about 12 to 15 inches tall with very small bodies.