Georgia

It wasn't long after our goose Lucy made the news that people began to call for one reason or another. One morning a farmer responded to the article in the newspaper saying, he didn't have our goose but he had a goose or two that we could have. There was really not another goose that could fill Lucy's place but we set off on a days adventure. His farm was neatly tucked back in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania. We meandered down a dirt road and past a pond where we met an older man dressed in well worn overalls. He greeted us and took us to the barn were he had ducks, geese, and a male turkey that met us up close and personal, as he shook his feathers and did his turkey dance. We decided on a couple of White Ebden Geese and the farmer said, he would even throw in a little bantam hen and tree duck eggs. Down the road we traveled to take our barnyard friends to their new home. It was nice to once again hear the sound of geese honking and clamoring as they waddled in front of our barn.
We named the little red bantie hen Georgia and placed her in a laying box and carefully put the duck eggs under her. It was really quite comical because she was so small that she barley covered the large eggs. She sat diligently until one day the hatching began. What a sight to behold as this little hen hatched out three perfect yellow ducklings.
We were in the process of a move to a new farm that had a larger barn and a small pond. Gathering all of our animals for the move was quite a challenge. The horses were loaded in a stock trailer. The dogs and cats were crated and the chickens and geese were placed in separate containers. Special care was given to Georgia and her waddling feathered ducklings. Adjacent to the barn rested a little pond that I knew would be perfect for the ducks. We began to unload our variety of barnyard critters when the ducklings quickly made there way to the little pond. With out any hesitation Georgia followed them into the pond before she realized that she could not swim. As her confusion rose, the flapping and struggling to try to stay afloat overcame her very existence. We quickly went to rescue our puzzled little bantie. This was without a doubt the last time that she would try to swim. In the upcoming days Georgia would peck around the pond as her hatchlings enjoyed their daily swim. Once her ducklings were done swimming, you could see them faithfully waddling single file behind Georgia throughout the day.
C. A. Bresin

Bantam Chickens
A bantam is a small variety of chicken, deriving it’s the name from the city of Bantam. Bantam was once a major seaport, in Indonesia. European sailors found the small native breeds of chicken in Southeast Asia to be useful, and any such small poultry came to be known as a bantam. Bantams are usually one-fifth to one-forth the size of an average chicken.
Bantams are suitable for smaller backyards as they do not need as much space as other breeds. Bantam hens are also used as laying hens, although Bantam eggs are only about one-half to one-third the size of a regular hen egg.
Many bantam hens are renowned for hatching and brooding purpose. They are very protective mothers and will attack anything that gets near their young.
excerpts taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bantam_(poultry)