There is no denying that the bantam Sebright chicken is one of the most unique looking chickens out there. Especially its two recognized varieties – the Golden Sebright and the Silver Sebright.
Let’s take a little look at it in a bit more depth, shall we?
Sebright Bantam Facts at a Glance
| Eggs | ~ 50 per year |
| Egg Color | White |
| Use | Show / Ornamental breed |
| Comb Type | Rose |
| Weight | Male Bantam: 22 oz (625 g) Female Bantam: 18 oz (510 g) |
| Country of origin | England |
The Origins of the Sebright Chicken
The Sebright chicken, like most true bantam chicken breeds, originates from the United Kingdom. However, they are now found throughout the world.
This is, in part, down to the massive push from the breeders during the early part of the development of the breed. This was actually the very first chicken breed ever to have dedicated breeding clubs, which is really saying something since there are so many breeding clubs around nowadays.
This small chicken breed was first developed in the early 1800s by Sir John Sebright and named after him. He had the intention of creating an ornamental chicken breed.
This breed is actually incredibly important to our understanding of the theory of evolution. John Sebright regularly corresponded with Charles Darwin, and his ideas about the development of the Sebright chicken were used when Charles Darwin created the theory of evolution.
We do not know which breeds of chicken went into the development of the Sebright chicken breed, unfortunately.
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The Stunningly Beautiful Look of the Sebright Bantam
This is a chicken breed that, at the most, is going to weigh around 22 oz (600 g), although a few of them are a bit smaller than this. It is one of the smallest chicken breeds in the world.
The bird is only officially recognized in two colors, although it comes in more than this. The two officially recognized varieties by APA are Golden Sebright and Silver Sebright. This will be the base color of the bird, with black outlines on the feathers. It really does create quite a beautiful look!
Interestingly, the feathering on the roosters here looks similar to a hen’s feathering. This is one of only a few chicken breeds that has that, which makes this breed even more unique in the grand scheme of things.
The overall shape of the chicken is very pronounced, and this is a breed that carries itself pretty well when it is walking around. It stands tall and proud. It is no wonder that this is one of the most popular ornamental chickens out there.
The most chicken breeds have bright red combs, but the Sebrights are unique, they have purplish combs (type: Rose comb). Learn more about chicken comb types.
Sebright As a Show Chicken
This is where the chicken breed shines, and that should come as no surprise since it is the reason why the Sebright chicken was developed in the first place.
It doesn’t matter where are you in the world, you will likely find Sebright chicken shows in your local area. There will no doubt be a breeder’s club or two that you can join too.
However, do bear in mind that the competition for the Sebright chicken at shows is immense. If you are new to raising the breed, you are not really going to get a show quality Sebright chicken from the first try.
The people that are showing off their chickens will have been breeding them for an incredibly long time!
You should also bear in mind that because this chicken is so hard to breed, in part because it lays so few eggs, it can also be quite expensive to get your starter stock to begin with. So, if you are reading this now, do not expect to be entering the Sebright chicken into any competition any time soon.
That being said, this doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the good looks of the Sebright chicken. A lot of people raise them purely for a bit of decoration in their garden!
Take a look at some of the other gold colored chicken breeds recognized by APA.
The Sebright Chicken Eggs
At a push, you are going to be getting 50 eggs from each hen per year, and that is only if the chicken is fantastic at egg-laying. There are some people that have reported that they received under 10-20 eggs from their chicken.
Of course, the eggs are going to be quite small too. This is not a breed that has the ability to pump out huge eggs, after all. So, you can expect the eggs the Sebright produces to be a surprise, as opposed to something that you should be aiming for.
Their eggs tend to be low in fertility, as is common among breeds bearing a rose comb., such as Wyandotte chicken, Rhode Island Red and the Hamburg chicken.
That being said, a lot of people do report that the Sebright is a rather broody chicken, so while it may not be laying that many eggs of its own, you may be able to convince it to raise the eggs of other less-broody chickens. However, even then, some people report that this does not quite work out as planned.
You are certainly going to find it immensely difficult to breed these chickens if that is what you are aiming for. You would need to be raising a lot of them to get any sort of quantity of chickens back.
As a Meat Chicken
The chicken is far too small to be used as a meat chicken. We wouldn’t recommend you even bother raising a Sebright chicken if you are purely after meat.
We are positive that it is going to taste OK and provide enough meat for one person but, to be honest with you, there are still far better-tasting chickens if that is what you are after e.g. the Pekin bantam chicken (if you are after bantams). Otherwise, check out the best meat chicken breeds.
The Personality of the Chicken
Like most true bantam breeds, the Sebright chicken is mostly quite friendly. It does pretty well with families, and the low care requirements mean that you do not need to be a specialist in chicken keeping to be able to look after them.
However, we do want to point out that the small size of the Sebright chicken means that it is capable of flying. For this reason, we do suggest that you keep it in a coop with a roof.
Even if you do not mind them flying out a little bit, this will help protect them. Due to the smaller size of this breed, they make a nice little snack for predators.
Other than this, there isn’t really anything else you need to be thinking about when you raise the Sebright chicken. Just raise them like any other chicken, and you should be fine. Just make sure that you do not overfeed them.
A lot of people do end up being guilty of this, mostly because the bird is quite small. However, after you have raised them for a short while, it will be easy to get an idea of how much food they eat.
Care Tips
They are capable flyers, so be sure to put something on top of the coop or run.
We want to point out that chicks that do hatch are very tiny and delicate. They are requiring extra care to raise, but once they reach maturity they are hardy, active, and capable fliers.
Other than this, compared to the other chicken breeds, you do not need to do anything special to look after your Sebright chickens.
Just have fun and enjoy these beauties in your backyard! They are going to look absolutely stunning wandering around your yard. In fact, a lot of people that do raise them are simply doing so because they want a decent ornamental bird that they can raise. And, to be honest with you, there are very, very few ornamental birds that look as good as this one.
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