Japanese bantam


The Japanese bantam or Chabo is a breed of chicken originating in Japan. It is a true bantam breed, meaning that there are no large fowl counterparts. It has a large upright tail that often reaches over the bird's head. The wings angle down, and to the back, along the sides.

Characteristics

The Japanese bantam has very short legs. This trait is caused by a single lethal gene. All proper Japanese bantams are then heterozygous meaning that when the birds are bred, 25% of the embryos will receive two mutant alleles and die in shell. The other 50% of the embryos will receive one mutant allele and one wild type allele and will then be short-legged. The remaining 25% receive two wild type alleles and have legs that are longer than what most breeders want. Long-legged birds bred to each other will never produce short-leg offspring.
There are many colour varieties of Japanese bantam, with standardised colours including birchen grey, black, black mottled, black-tailed buff, black-tailed white, blue, blue mottled, blue-red, brown-red, buff Columbian, cuckoo, dark grey, golden duckwing, gray, lavender, Miller's gray, partridge, red, red mottled, silver-grey, tri-coloured, wheaten and white. There are also frizzle-feathered and Silkie-feathered variations. These chickens have been known to live for up to 13 years with proper care.