Booted Bantams
Booted Bantams (also known as Sablepoots) are very tame and sweet bantams, they are true bantams meaning that there are no larger version of the breed. I keep Booted Bantams in Lavender Mottled, Lemon Millefleur and Gold Millefleur.
Sablepoots are great for beginners as they are easily tamed, they have feathered feet and so will not mess up the garden and also lay a good number of white eggs. I have found them to be very good broodies. Their houses need to be kept dry as they have feathered feet and dampness can then lead to disease and irritation.
Have a look at my Lavender Mottled and Lemon and Gold Millefleur Booted Bantam pages to see the colours I keep in more detail.
In the summer months I keep my Booted Bantams in a large outside run with grass and plenty of shade. When the cold, wet weather kicks in then I move the flock into a spacious shed to prevent their feet from getting muddy and only then let them out on to bark chippings when the weather is dry and warm.
This breed comes in many colours (some can be seen pictured to the right) most are very rare or not even found in England but more common in the in the Netherlands, Germany and Holland.
Colours found in the UK are:
Gold Millifleur, Lemon Millefleur, Silver Millefleur, Porcelain,
Buff Mottled, Lavender,
Lavender Mottled, Black, Cuckoo, White, Mottled, Partridge, Buff and Blue.
Outside of England Birchin,
Buff Columbian, Columbian, Red, Red Mottled, Bloodwing Silver and Blue Mottled can be found.
Hopefully as the breed becomes more popular we will start to see some of these colours in England which will be good for breed as there will be a wider choice of colours. Alex Hales is the breed registrarand does a brilliant effort to promote the breed, this can be seen on his website www.bootedbantamswales.co.uk .