Choosing a breed
Calm, hardy, good layer, coloured eggs: our answers to choose the hen breed suited to your garden and your expectations.
29 perguntas
Everyone has their own view, and rightly so. The Galinha sedosa barbuda remains the most singular and the most sought after — its plumage without barbules, its black skin and its five toes resemble nothing else. But the Padoue GR with its crest, the Sebright with its lacing, or the Yokohama with its endless tail each have their followers. The honest answer is to look at the photographs breed by breed and let yourself be won over.
In our catalogue the breeds classed as giant are Brahma, Cochin, Orpington. The adult weights shown on their pages come from the breed standard, not from any weighing on our holding. They are calm birds and poor fliers, therefore easy to contain, but they need room, a low perch and carefully kept bedding: their weight makes them prone to injury on landing and sensitive to damp ground.
The true bantams, which our listing classes as «mini»: Combattant anglais moderne nain, Naine hollandaise, Sebright. The weights on their pages come from the breed standard and not from any weighing of ours. They suit small spaces perfectly, but take care: small does not mean quiet, and several of these breeds are lively and strong fliers. Look at flight height as much as at size.
The breeds rated at 1 m flight height, the lowest on our scale, are Cochin, Galinha sedosa barbuda, Galinha sedosa de cabeça branca. A low fence is enough for them and they make no attempt to go over it. Next come the heavy, feather-legged breeds at 1.50 m. Flight height is shown on each breed page and the listing can be filtered by it: it is the most useful criterion if your garden is not enclosed overhead.
The breeds clearing more than 2 m are, at present, Araucana, Barnevelder, Combattant anglais moderne nain, Hollandaise huppée naine, Olivette, Poule de Bielefeld. For those, plan on a high fence or an aviary — a simple border will not hold them. Frame is no reliable guide here: that list mixes large fowl and bantams. Trust the flight height given on the breed page rather than the silhouette.
The old breeds, little pushed towards intensive production, are generally the hardiest: they cope with varied conditions and ask for little upkeep. The Marans, the Sussex, the Faverolles Alemã GR and the Coucou de Rennes are among them. Beware one received idea, however: hardiness does not do away with the need for a dry house, protection from predators or health monitoring. A hardy breed badly housed falls ill like any other.
Against cold it is less the breed that counts than the comb and the density of the plumage. A small comb freezes far less readily than a large single comb, and dense plumage insulates better. The heavy, well-feathered breeds — Brahma, Cochin, Orpington, Wyandotte GR — come through winter without difficulty. The real enemy is in any case not dry cold but damp combined with draughts: a well-ventilated but draught-free house does more than any heating.
Light breeds with less dense plumage generally cope better with heat. Conversely our giant breeds with abundant plumage — Brahma, Cochin, Orpington — struggle most in a heatwave. It is often claimed that comb and wattles act as radiators: we have not clearly observed this in our own runs. Whatever the breed, what decides matters is the management: permanent shade — a tree does the job perfectly — and fresh water within reach. A hen pants with open beak and wings held away long before she is in danger.
Rarity varies by region and by year, and it shifts quickly: a little-kept breed can become common again within a few seasons if two or three breeders take it up seriously, and the reverse is just as true. It is in fact one of the purposes of breeding work: to keep going lines that no one else maintains. Our catalogue changes each season — the listing gives its current state.
Popular breeds can be found everywhere, and that is precisely where you should look twice: under one and the same breed name the gap between birds can be considerable. When an entire line would be disqualified at a show, it becomes hard to claim it still belongs to the breed. Look at conformity to the standard and at the breeder's results before looking at availability.
Longevity depends far more on care than on breed: in good conditions allow 8 to 12 years, with records beyond 15. Suitable feeding, a dry house, protection from predators and health monitoring weigh more than the name on the breed page. Worth bearing in mind: a hen lives on for a long time after she has stopped laying well. For many keepers she is a companion as much as a layer — it is for each of us to know what we expect of her before starting out.
The breeds currently classed as very calm in our catalogue are Brahma, Faverolles Alemã GR, Galinha sedosa barbuda, Galinha sedosa de cabeça branca, Orpington: they are the ones that come to the keeper of their own accord and let themselves be handled without stress. But sociability owes just as much to the way the hens were reared: chicks used to human presence early stay friendly all their lives, whatever the breed.
No hen is truly quiet — the post-laying call comes with the territory, and calm breeds are simply the most discreet. With a cockerel, two things count far more than the breed: the number, since several cockerels within earshot answer one another endlessly, and the size, which gives a small bird a shrill crow and a large one a deep note. A single large-fowl cockerel often disturbs less than two small ones.
Start from the constraint, not from the whim. Small plot or low fencing: favour a low flight height and a modest frame — here the breeds that fly least are Cochin, Galinha sedosa barbuda, Galinha sedosa de cabeça branca. Large grassy run: the lively, hardy breeds are in their element and will do you good service scratching. Heavy, wet ground: avoid feather-legged breeds, whose shank feathering picks up mud. The listing filters on size, frame and flight height.
It is the commonest compromise, and it resolves neatly: rather than seeking a breed that excels at everything, cross two criteria in our listing. Filter first on the egg colour or the appearance that appeals to you, then compare the laying of the breeds left. A handsome hen that lays decently is worth more than a champion you do not care for — you will be looking at her every day.
Because you are buying what lies behind the bird, not merely the bird. A line that has been followed brings predictability: conformity to the standard, health, fertility, behaviour — you know what her chicks will look like. Conversely, a bird of unknown origin may be charming and pass on nothing. That criterion matters little if you want three hens for the garden; it becomes decisive as soon as you wish to breed.
Several breeds carry feathers on the shanks: it is a standard trait, but the same description covers very different realities — from a few discreet feathers to abundant feathering running down to the toes. It is that extent you should look at, not merely its presence. The heavier the feathering, the more it picks up mud on wet ground and freezes in winter: a drained run and dry bedding then become essential. One observation from our catalogue: none of our strongest fliers carries leg feathering.
The crest is a standard trait, its shape and volume described breed by breed — and the range is considerable, from a small crest that hides nothing to a full one covering the eyes. A crest that obstructs the sight makes a hen easier to startle, and therefore more nervous; it also stays wet in rain and proves more prone to lice. One simple action deals with most of the trouble: trim the feathers around the eyes lightly, particularly when the bird changes surroundings.
The beard, or muffling, refers to the feathers framing the face below the beak. It is a standard trait in several breeds, often paired with a crest. It gives a very recognisable outline and has little bearing on keeping, except that the beard gets wet and dirty at the drinker. A nipple or siphon drinker markedly reduces the problem compared with an open bowl.
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There are many comb shapes, all described in the standard: single, rose, cup, pea, horn and buttercup among them. It is not only a matter of appearance: a large single comb is markedly more exposed to frost than a small one, which counts in a cold climate. A role in shedding heat is also attributed to it, but we have not clearly observed this in our own runs — we would rather say so than repeat a received idea.
It is a rare genetic trait, in which the pigmentation reaches the skin, the shanks and even the bones. It often comes with entirely black plumage. It is a standard trait, striking and much sought after, with no bearing whatever on health or laying. The flesh is dark too, which never fails to surprise the first time.
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Shank colour forms part of each breed's standard just as plumage does: white, yellow, slate, black or willow depending on the case. It is a point judges examine closely, since a non-conforming colour counts as a fault, sometimes a disqualifying one. For a hobby keeper it is above all a useful marker for checking that a bird truly matches its breed.
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The carriage and length of the tail vary enormously from breed to breed, and this appears in the standard: carried high or low, very full, reduced, even absent. One practical point worth knowing: a very full or very long tail can hamper mating and lower fertility — one of the reasons some breeds call for more attention when breeding.
Most hens have four; a few breeds carry five, the fifth being an additional toe set above the others. It is a standard trait, required in the breeds concerned: its absence or malformation counts as a fault at a show. It has no consequence whatever for the bird's life.
In a few breeds the uropygium — the support for the tail feathers — does not develop. It is a fixed trait described in the standard, not a malformation. It is often said that this feature complicates fertilisation; our records do not bear that out, since the breed concerned in our catalogue maintains excellent fertility rates. It is a good example of a received idea that measured data can settle.
A true bantam is a breed that exists only in small form, with no large-fowl counterpart. A so-called ordinary bantam is the reduced version of a large fowl, obtained by selection, and it must reproduce that breed's type faithfully at a smaller scale. Our listing distinguishes size from frame: the two criteria do not say the same thing, and confusing them often leads to choosing the wrong bird.
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On her behaviour or her laying, none at all. On her visibility, yes: a pale bird is seen from a distance by a predator, a dark one passes more unnoticed in a wooded run. On breeding, by contrast, colour is a discipline in itself — each variety has its own description in the standard, and achieving a level, true colour takes generations.
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No appearance is enough to guarantee it, and neither is the leg ring: it certifies the year of hatch and is certainly a plus, but it is easily obtained and does not on its own prove a bird's purity. The criterion that counts is the show bench: go to breeders who exhibit their birds, better still if they hold champion titles, since that is the only outside and impartial judgement on a line. You can also buy at a poultry show, where the bird will already have been judged. One nuance worth knowing: champion parents do not produce only champions, and in some breeds you must rear a great many chicks to bring out a single bird of show quality.
Conformity describes one bird at one moment: this bird matches the standard of its breed. Breeding describes what lies behind it, namely several followed generations in which the parents were kept and the rest discarded. In practice a conforming hen may arise by chance in a line that is not — she will be handsome and pass on very little. A hen from a followed breeding programme passes on, on average, what has been worked at — conformity, but also health, fertility and behaviour. That is the difference between buying a result and buying a starting point.
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