|
Origin
: Only at the end of the seventies serious attempts were made to breed
bantam versions of the large Belgian gamefowl breeds. Before that one or
two bantams were only found sporadically and usually they left much to
be desired in size and body shape. Only after Mr. Van Loy started
breeding Belgian game bantams with the desired head pigmentation, a lot
of improvement was made.
Characteristics
: Compared to the large Belgian game there are a few remarkable
differences. First of all bantams grow a lot quicker and start laying at
much younger age. The hens brood very easily and they are good mothers.
The pugnacity of the bantams is comparable to the large Liège but
because of the lighter mass of the bantams the damage after a fight is
usually much less dramatical. Therefore it is much easier to keep the
bantams in groups.
Appearance
: The body shape of Liège game bantam and large Liège game is
identical. They are also quit large bantam game. The roosters weigh
about 1250 gram and the hens 900 to 1000 gram. This is of course very
logical when keeping in mind that Liege game are one of the largest
chicken breeds. The difference between Liège and Bruges game bantams is
that the Liège has a very sloping back. In general they are also a bit
longer and smaller and also the legs are a little longer. The thighs are
very muscular and the slate blue shanks are very powerful, thick and
rather long. In contrast with other breeds, spurs are desired also in
the hens. The head is very powerful with developed eyebrows. The face
and the comb are heavily pigmented and purplish red until almost black.
The triple comb and wattles should be as little as possible.
Varieties
: There are a lot of varieties but the most common are birchen and
yellow birchen. Other recognized varieties are black, white, blue, black-red, silver duckwing, golden duckwing, blue golden duckwing, blue
birchen and blue yellow birchen.
State
: Rather rare. At the moment the most common of all three Belgian game
bantams. Is bred in all parts of Belgium. Its popularity is increasing in
Germany.
|
