Poultry Lovers Wyandottes / Worldwidepoultry.com

Wyandottes originate from the United States and no one really knows which breeds were used to create the Wyandotte breed.

They were first reported in the 1860s and the first variety was the silver laced variant.

They are large chickens with a particularly rounded appearance. They have broad bodies and are full feathered.

The hens have a deep breast and backside which shows that they are good layers. The Wyandotte has yellow legs with a round, short head, rose comb, bright red ear lobes and reddish bay eyes.

They are a good dual purpose breed. Behaviour Wyandottes are docile birds and the hens are excellent broodies and make good mothers. They lay well and chicks tend to be strong and are quick growers.

Their attractive "curvy" shape, generally good disposition and many attractive colour patterns (varieties) make them a good choice for fanciers as well as farmers Varieties White, Blue, Buff, Red, Black, Barred, Partridge and Silver Pencilled, Silver, Gold, Blue and Buff Laced, and finally Columbian which has similar markings to the Light Sussex. Status Fairly common

Worldwidepoultry.com

Araucana Poultry Lovers -Poultry Twitter

Araucana chickens originate from South America and are named after the Arauca Indians of Chile.

They were introduced to Europe in the early 1900s although they have been heard of since the mid-sixteenth century. They originally had large floppy pea combs but these have been bred so that they now only have a very small irregularly shaped pea comb.

They do not have wattles and the facial feathers are thick with a small crest on the head. The blue green egg is coloured throughout the shell so the inside is as blue as the outside but the hens only really lay during the spring and summer months. Blue and green eggs are most common although colour can range from a greyish or violet blue to a turquoise or greenish blue. Khaki and olive can suggest that the hens have been crossed with other breeds. The breed can be born with or without a tail, those without are known as Rumpless Araucanas. They are short, rounded birds with an upright stance and a broad skull. They have an unusual wart-like feature on either side of their heads called plicae where the earlobes are usually seen. These have feathers on them which make up ear tufts which slat backwards.

Behaviour Araucana chicks are strong, fast growers and mature quickly. They do tend towards broodiness and make excellent mothers. They don't mind being kept in a pen but like fresh grass so the coop or ark will need moving on regularly. Varieties Araucana chicks are strong, fast growers and mature quickly. They do tend towards broodiness and make excellent mothers. They do not mind being kept in a pen but like fresh grass so the coop or ark will need moving on regularly. They are placid birds and are vigorous and hardy. The blue green eggs are reportedly lower in cholesterol than other eggs which make them healthier although there is no specific evidence to back this up.

http://worldwidepoultry.com

Poultry Lovers Polish / Poland Bantams Worldwidepoultry.com

Polish or Known in England as the Poland, this is the most popular of the crested breeds. It is also one of the oldest.

The origin of this bird and its name is still not clear. Crested birds have been described all over Europe, not just in Poland. It has been known as a pure breed as early as the 16th century. They appeared and received classification at the first poultry show in London in 1845.

Then available in four colours. Behaviour The Poland is an unusual and beautiful bird. They do look rather strange with their big hair do! They lay a good number of white eggs. Generally classed as a non-sitting bird, they can occasionally become broody. Breeders tend to tie the crest up to keep it clean and allow the bird to see well. The Poland has a thin skull and can suffer from hypothermia quite quickly in the cold. Mites need to be looked out for, as they cannot preen themselves very easily to remove them. Varieties Colours of the Poland are very varied. The best known being the white crested black with its black body and white crest. The other two similarly patterned colours are white crested blue and white-crested cuckoo. These three colours do not have a beard and have wattles; all the other colours have a beard with no wattles.

They have white earlobes. The crest of the female should be very round with the males being spikier. The eyes are red in all colours and beaks and legs are dark blue in all except the white crested cuckoo, which has a paler beak and legs. The chamois, gold and silver are all laced.

Polands for Poultry Lovers Worldwide  2010

World Wide Poultry.com - Poultry Twitter... The Ugly Chicken?

There once was an Ugly Chicken...

Having evolved through the ages some breeds of Chicken still retain features from there pre- histoic past...

We have put a few pictures together of ugly chickens let us know what you think?...

Poultry Twitter - Silkie Bantams - worldwide poultry.com

Silkie Bantams are some of the most charming and beguiling oddities of the Poultry Fancy.

They possess many characteristics that set them apart from the other breeds of chickens; the most obvious being the texture of their feathers which is almost fur or silk-like in appearance - hence their name. 

Feathers have several parts to them; the main part being the quill that grows from beneath the skin which tapers off up the center of the feather to become the shaft. From each side of the shaft comes the web which are tiny strands that are held together by small hooks or barbicels on the ends of the strands which gives the feather their typical appearance. The Silkie does not have the hooks on the ends of the tiny strands of the web, which are fluffed out rather than held together. 

They also possess topknots or crests on their heads and abundant feathers growing down their legs and middle toe. They compete in the Featherleg Bantam class at poultry shows. Silkies are among the few other breeds of chickens that possess five toes instead of the usual four. 

They are the only chicken to have black, or more exactly, dark slate-blue skins. Silkies also come in a Bearded and Non-bearded variety, and can be found in many different colors. The colors which are recognized by both the American Poultry Association and the American Bantam Association are White, Black, Blue, Buff, Gray, Partridge and Splash. The exact date and place of origin of the Silkies is not known, however Marco Polo wrote of the fur-covered fowl with black skin during his journeys to China in the 13th century. It is safe to assume that Silkies had been around quite a while before Marco Polo. 

The Silkie of that time and the modern Silkie do not resemble each other in many other respects, being that the ancient Silkies evidently did not have leg feathering or any crest to speak of. As a matter of fact, the Silkie seen in the showroom today has changed considerably in the last 30 to 40 years. Their crests are larger and the feathering down the legs is more abundant than seen previously. Also a larger variety of colors are found today. The original Silkies were white only, but through meticulous and vigilant breeding by some dedicated fanciers the colors are becoming much better in quality than they were. Because of their gentle and docile nature, they make wonderful pets and adapt quickly to attention and handling by people. Their tendencies towards broodiness or setting are unsurpassed and Silkie hens will hatch and raise most any kind of poultry or game fowl. Many breeders of quail or pheasant who prefer to hatch naturally as opposed to an incubator will keep a flock of Silkie hens for this purpose. Once a Silkie hen has decided to set her eggs, there is very little that will bring her from the nest until those eggs have hatched. They will even go broody without the presence of eggs. In many cases even the males can possess some of the maternal instincts and can be very gentle towards the chicks, calling them over when he finds a tasty tidbit and as soon as the chicks are old enough to venture any distance away from Mom, they will be seen running around with Dad just as often. Because of their frequent inclination towards broodiness, they are not prolific layers as such breeds as Leghorns or Rhode Island Reds, as chickens do not lay while in the "broody cycle". However when they are in their lay cycle, which seems to vary with each individual hen, they are very dependable layers. Since the American Silkie is a bantam (small breed) the eggs are not huge - about medium in size ranging in colors from white to light brown.

Silkie Bantams for Poultry Lovers Worldwide Apr 15th 2010

Poultry Twitter Where in the World?

Ever wondered Where in the World your Favourite breed of Poultry originated from....

Follow our Blog, Twitter and Facebook pages to find out, Where in the World?

        

 There are hundreds of chicken breeds in existence. Domesticated for thousands of years, distinguishable breeds of chicken have been present since the combined factors of geographical isolation and selection for desired characteristics created regional types with distinct physical and behavioral traits passed on to their offspring, more..