Sabelpoots

Booted Bantams

A pair of Sabelpoot bantams, male on the left
Photos courtesy of Owen Goodfellow

Although it looks very much like the d'Uccle bantams, I understand that the Sabelpoot is somewhat larger and an old breed of true bantam. They are supposed to be Dutch or German in origin.

They are a booted bantam, but not bearded or muffed.

The following text is thru the courtesy of Alex Hales, www.bootedbantamswales.co.uk

There is evidence of Bantams with feathered feet from around 1600 (Ulisse Aldrovandi, Italy) and [they] have been mentioned in historical literature throughout the centuries to the present day. The three main countries to play a part in developing these feather footed birds into an actual breed are Great Britain (Booted Bantam), Germany (Federfubige Zwerg) and The Netherlands (Sabelpoot). The Booted Bantam lost favour with British breeders and remains rare in this country. However, the Germans and the Dutch have been the main force behind the Booteds' breeding and thanks to them we now have Booteds in many colours.

The Black and White Booteds have always been seen as of British origin; even nowadays the Blacks and Whites are smaller and more compact in build, even in Germany and The Netherlands.

Young Booted Bantams will often look taller and slimmer than older birds and I feel its not until after their first moult that they look "right." Be careful of cross breeds, [as] the blacks and whites do look similar to the Barbu d'Uccle and [they] are often bred together indiscriminately. The Barbu d'Uccles have thicker neck feathering with a very pronounced boule.