The wonderful, beautiful, comical and affectionate Ohiki Bantam . Also known as the Japanese Ohiki or Minohiki. This gorgeous little chicken has been bred for millenia to be a pet rather than for eggs, meat or fighting. Hence, the birds are naturally friendly, loving, and surprisingly intelligent and trainable. The roosters get along with one another and will even protect the chicks, allowing them to huddle underneath for warmth and security just like a hen. These are tiny bantams, most of them are not much bigger than a Serama. They are supposed to be a bantam breed and I have tried to choose conformationally correct breeders that mature small. The rooster tails can take a while to fully bloom, but they are amazing when they drag the ground behind the birds. These chickens have a very distinct waddle due to the very short hocks. Birds that are up on leg and don't waddle when they walk are not kept as breeding stock. They like big aviary type coops because they will fly from perch to perch. Allowed out to free range, they are hilarious to watch waddling from one interesting thing to the next.   

They are rare and hard to obtain, but I occasionally have eggs, chicks and breeding pairs available to the discriminating poultry lover. If you want a smart tiny chicken that will follow you like a puppy and fly up to sit on your shoulder like a parrot, then get yourself an Ohiki. Their sweetness cannot be beat.

For the purists: I got my Ohiki directly from Aubrey Webb by way of hatching eggs. His birds are from the original imports of Toni Marie that she further developed to be more hardy and adjusted to life in the USA. There is a LOT of information about this breed on both Toni's and Aubrey's respective websites.