What happens if..

[its hilly]

my full size cockeral jumps my banty hen, or my banty cockeral jumps my full size hens? Would the resultent chicks (theoretically) be banty, or full, or somewhere inbetween?
As most of my lot free range as one big group at the moment in theory it could happen. In practice the banty hens run like hell when the big boys head their way, but the banty maran cockeral will jump anything and doesnt seem to struggle either. Little terror.

[Nicos]

Ah now.... I've been thinking of getting 3 large Marans lasses to run with my banties.
Having asked around- the banty boys do risk having to use their spurs to 'climb aboard'- so you need to check out the gals for accidental injury from time to time.If they are perfect gentlemen and the gals are calm, there is even less risk
Yup the eggs should be the same size as normal for the hen, but I'd have thought that the chicks would be smaller.

Some of my banties are crossed with something slightly bigger, but they all look the same size- but ,one of the chicks from the last hatching grew really quite a bit bigger than his dadddy!!

As for your banty gals and a large cockeral- same small eggs ...but maybe larger chicks???...that's an interesting one- cos the shell might be a bit of a tight fit mightn't it??? Hmmm I wonder ????

[its hilly]

As for your banty gals and a large cockeral- same small eggs ...but maybe larger chicks???...that's an interesting one- cos the shell might be a bit of a tight fit mightn't it??? Hmmm I wonder ????

whoops hadnt thought of that. I know from horses that pony mares can foal to quite big stallions..but..depending on the size difference, things can go wrong up to and including the foal being too big to be natural birth.
Its not something I've ever felt worth the risk. Think I'd feel the same with my chooks. The thought of them dying in the shell does not appeal at all.

Unless someone else whos done it come comes along to say it doesnt work like that of course.

[Hilary B]

The size of the newly hatched chick will be pretty much dictated by the size of the egg. If Daddy was much bigger than Mummy the chick will grow faster than 'pure' bantam chicks.
We had a Cochin cockerel (Cuddles) which mated a tiny black bantam hen. She hatched 2 lovely babies which grew into medium sized hens (and good layers at that).