The Big List of Heritage Chicken Breeds
Get to know these 23 heritage breeds of chicken – one or more could add diversity and fun to your flock!
March/April 1976
By Mother Earth News staff
ANCONA. Active, energetic, hardy birds best known as excellent winter layers, Anconas produce fair-sized white eggs. Their dark, inconspicuous coloring has made them popular in areas where predators are a problem.
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ARAUCANA. The only chicken to lay colored (shades of blue, green, or red) eggs. Some Araucanas have tufts, others sport bearas or crests, or lack a tail. Plumage varies in combinations of black, silver, brown white, and gold.
BLUE ANDALUSIAN. Delicately blue-laced feathers and a stately air make this layer of large white eggs something of an aristocrat. Offspring may be "blue", black, white, or blackwhite.
BLACK MINORCA. A longtime favorite (and known to be a very resourceful outdoor forager), the beautiful Black Minorca is a hardy, relatively heavy non-setter. Eggs are large and chalkywhite.
NEW HAMPSHIRE. One of the newer varieties of "dual-purpose" breeds ... with a reputation for fast weight gains, rapid feathering, and early egg production second only to its fame as a tasty broiler.
DARK BRAHMA. This layer of light-to darkbrown eggs is admired for its delicately, penciled plumage and gentle disposition. Developed from Asiatic fowl brought to New England by China clipper ships in the 1800's.
WHITE LANGSHAN. Never in danger of being called "Shorty", this statuesque fowl is big and heavily feathered (even down the outer side of its shanks and toes). The birds are good layers of dark-brown eggs.
SILVER CAMPINE. Considered an exhibition variety in this country, but also on record as a steady producer of white eggs. This lightweight's tightly feathered, barred plumage is set off by a flowing silver hackle.
DOMINIQUE. Known as "the pioneer's chicken". Settlers brought these medium-sized birds west with them, and-in the old days nearly all black-and-white barred fowl were called "Dominikers". Lays brown eggs.
WHITE JERSEY GIANT. Raised primarily for meat. Jersey Giants mature slower than Rocks or Reds but eventually surpass those breeds in finished weight. The variety is often noted for its disease resistance.
PARTRIDGE COCHIN. A large and handsome show bird. Males boast orange-red hackle and saddle feathers with black centers, while females—once popular as setting hens—have reddish-brown, black-penciled plumage.
MOTTLED HOUDAN. Although this breed makes for tasty eating and a good supply of white eggs, its unusual appearance—a "beard", a crest, a V-shaped comb, and five toes—have confined it to the "oddity" class.
