Barnevelder

Barnevelder chickens are named for the town of Barneveld in central Netherlands. They are good layers of large brown eggs and, unlike some other breeds, continue to lie well during winter. In the 1850s Asian chickens began to arrive in Europe, where they were at first known as "Shanghai" chickens. These were initially cross-bred among them, and only later developed into breeds such as the Brahma, the Cochin and the Croad Liangshan. From about 1865, some of these Shanghai chickens were cross-bred with local farmyard chickens in the area of Barneveld. Towards the end of the nineteenth century there may also have been some breeding with a type called Amerikaanse Nuthoenders which served as utility birds that showed some si ...

Belgian Bantam

Antwerp Belgian Bantam chickens, also known as Quail Bantam or Bearded D''Anvers, are similar to Belgian Bearded d''Uccle Bantams, but they are clean-legged and have a rose comb instead of a single comb. They are tiny bantams are very friendly and quick to catch the eye. They have a unique quail color pattern. Their body is a brownish-black and is slightly tinged with a straw color. Their breast is bay and their head is black with a bay colored beard and muff.

Bianca di Saluzzo

The breeds traditionally reared in Piedmont were tw the Bionda Piemontese and the Bianca di Saluzzo (or Bianca di Cavour). Those two breeds currently count a few hundreds animals, bred by a few local agricultural high schools that took the initiative to revive and preserve the original type since 1999. Fertilized eggs, chicks, pullets and breeders can be bought from Institute of Verzuolo. Pullets start laying from 6-7th month. Eggs have white shell and the mean weight is 50 g. The egg laying is higher in spring and summer with a mean production of 180 units. The rate of hatching is high. The quality of the meat, depending on the rearing techniques and feeding, is high. The typical produ ...

Bionda Piemontese

The breeds traditionally reared in Piedmont were tw the Bionda Piemontese and the Bianca di Saluzzo (or Bianca di Cavour). Those two breeds currently count a few hundreds animals, reared by a few local agricultural high schools (Institute of Verzuolo, Cuneo) that took the initiative to revive and preserve the original type since 1999. The Bionda Piemontese is very rustic and resistant to many diseases. The growth is rapid and the production of meat is valuable. The animals are reared out door and slaughtered at 112 days: typical productions can also be obtained at 70 days, with mean weight of approximately 1.5 kg. The killing percentage is high and the quality of meat is excellent also when extensive rearing ...

Black Sex Link

Black Sex-Link chickens are a hybrid breed developed from crossbreeding a Rhode Island Red rooster and a Rhode Island White or Delaware hen. This breed is called "sex-linked" because the male and female chicks can be distinguished by their color at hatch, making it easier for farmers to determine which birds to keep for meat and which birds to keep for egg production. The hens are known for their high egg production and the roosters are often used for meat production. These chickens are friendly, hardy and adaptable to different environments. The Black Sex-Link chickens were developed in the 1950s as a result of crossbreeding between a Barred Plymouth Rock hen and a Rhode Island Red or New Hampshire Red rooster. This breed was de ...

Booted Bantam

Booted Bantams are ornamental chickens with over twenty different plumages; they often steal the show in exhibition. They are small, easily tamed, hardy, and friendly; they make good pets.   Booted Bantams are friendly, easily tamed, and easily handled. They like to forage in the garden for bugs and seed and do so without the damaging plants and soil as would other breeds. The hens brood a couple times a year. They make good mothers. Booted Bantams bear both individual and group confinement well. Small, clean, and entertaining they have all the qualifications for a good pet and show animal for enthusiasts.     They have a single comb with five point, red wattles, and matching earlobes. The ...

Braekel (Brakel)

Braekel chickens are one of the older European chicken breeds. Their history dates back to 1416. They were even mentioned as a successful poultry breed of Belgium. There is a miniature version of the Braekel.Two distinct types of Braekel were recognized in the past: the large type living on rich clay soil Flanders, and a light-weight type from the less fertile region, the Kempen. Due to crossbreeding between the different types, this distinction vanished, resulting in a single type.   In the UK, USA, and Australia, however, one can still find descendants of the Kempische Brakel under its old name “Campine”. Campines has evolved differently from the Brakel. Their most noticeable difference is the hen- ...

Brahma

Brahma chickens are a large breed of chicken developed in the United States from very large birds imported from Shanghai. Brahma was the principal chicken used for meat in the US from the 1850s until about 1930. There has been considerable controversy over the origin of the Brahma. It appears to have developed in the United States from birds imported from Shanghai. Limited cross-breeding with Chittagong chickens from Bangladesh is likely what gave the Brahma the distinctive characteristics of head shape and the pea comb that distinguish them from the Cochin (another breed that derives from comon ancestors).Brahmas were first exported to England in December 1852 when George Burnham sent nine "Gray Shanghaes" to Queen Victoria as a g ...

Buckeye

Buckeye chickens originating in the U.S. state of Ohio. Ohio is known as "the Buckeye state"; which were they got their name. They were first bred and developed in 1896, by a Warren, Ohio resident named Nettie Metcalf. Nettie Metcalf crossbred Barred Plymouth Rocks, Buff Cochins, and some black breasted red games to produce the Buckeye. Her goal was a functional breed that could produce well in the bitter Midwest winters. Buckeye chickens are a calm dual-purpose chicken that have a decent laying ability (between 150 and 200 eggs per year) and strong meat production characteristics. Buckeyes are yellow skinned chickens that lay brown eggs. They are the only purely American chicken breed to sport a pea comb, and this, co ...