What’s the difference between a standard chicken versus a bantam chicken? To understand the difference, let’s look at what a standard chicken is and what a bantam is.
Standard Chicken
The word “standard” when applied to chickens can be confusing. In some contexts it means that the breed has been standardized by the American Poultry Association (APA). Such breeds are often referred to as being standard bred.
According to this meaning of the word, the breed conforms to an ideal description formalized (or standardized) by the APA. It is then included in the organization’s periodically updated book, the American Standard of Perfection.
On an interesting note, different countries standardize different breeds, based on those that are most popular or most common locally. And when two countries do standardize the same breed, they may not agree on what to call the breed or on what exactly constitutes perfection. Further, they don’t all organize their breed classifications in the same way.
Size Matters
Depending on the context, the word “standard” refers, instead, to a breeds’ size. The implication is that the standard breeds are of a regular or normal size, as opposed to being small or “bantam.” To avoid confusion, some people argue that these “regular size” breeds should be referred to as “large fowl.”
Another argument in favor of using the clumsy term “large fowl” in reference to size is that the APA standardizes some bantams breeds. So then you have the awkward situation of referring to a “standard bantam.”
Not only that, but the American Bantam Association (ABA) also standardizes bantam breeds. They publish their descriptions in the periodically updated Bantam Standard, which includes many more varieties than the APA Standard.
The descriptions of bantams listed in both books haven’t always agreed. However, the two organizations work together to iron out the differences.
Bantam Chicken
So what, exactly, is a bantam chicken? A bantam is a small chicken that’s about one-fourth to one-fifth the size of a standard-size chicken, and typically weighs no more than 2 pounds.
Bantams are sometimes referred to as miniature chickens. But they are not exact miniatures. The relative size of their head, tail, wings, feathers, and eggs is larger than they would be if bantams were perfect miniatures.
The word bantam, then, refers to size, not breed. In fact, most large breeds have a bantam counterpart. However, a handful of breeds are bantam size only. The few bantam breeds that lack a large counterpart are referred to as true bantams.
Standard vs. Bantam
In summary, a standard chicken may be one for which a formal description has been established. Or it may be a large size chicken.
A bantam chicken is one that is smaller than a standard-size chicken. It may or may not have a larger counterpart, and may or may not be standardized.
Helpful Links
What Is a Standard Chicken Breed?
Which Breeds are True Bantams?
And that’s today’s news from the Cackle Coop.
Gail Damerow has written numerous books about keeping poultry, many of them available from the Cackle Bookstore.
