SEBRIGHT BANTAM
Uses: Exhibition /
Ornamental.
Origin: England. Eggs: 50 - 80
white.
Weight: Cock: 620 g. Hen: 510 g.
Colours: Gold, Silver. (Standardised UK).
Useful to
Know: A true Bantam, one of the oldest British varieties. Difficult to
raise and are highly susceptible to Marek's disease. Some strains suffer with
low fertility. All feathers
are required to have black lacing, look out for black peppering on the
central background colour.
The Sebright bantam is one of a few breeds that are 'true bantams' (it has no larger
equivalent). It was created in the early 19th Century by Sir John Sebright, the
7th Baronet of Besford, Worcestershire and possibly a few others by using 'henny
game' but the details of the exact birds used are still unknown but to make the
Gold Sebright, he possibly used a buff bantam Nankin hen with his 'henny game'.
It is thought that it took him around 20 years of selection and in-breeding to
achieve the patterns he wanted and to fix the type. To make the Silver Sebright
it is thought he started by using a white rose comb cockerel.
All feathers are required to have black lacing and there are a number of very good birds around (in the UK) but watch out for peppering in the centre of the feathers. Check underneath tail feathers since this is a common area for this to occur. The background
colour of the Gold Sebright varies from country to country and even between
different breeders' strains. It is more important to achieve an even shade of
gold, rather than an exact shade, but very dark or very light shades should be
avoided. Lack of lacing on the feathers under the wattles is called bishop
throating and is a common problem. Rose combs on male birds are often faulty.
This should be square fronted, low and compact, not hollow fronted with a dent
or side sprigs. Most birds on show do not have the dark purple comb, most these
days having a pinker than ideal comb. Never breed from birds with a light eye,
the iris needs to be as dark as possible.
Breeding Hints
There are a number of challenges when breeding Sebright bantams, it is not easy to get the correct lacing and background colour and there is often a high level of infertility
caused by in-breeding
SILKIE
Uses: A
very persistent broody, ornamental, exhibition.
Origin:
Asia. Eggs: 100-120 Tinted or Cream.
Weight:
Cock: 1.8 Kg.Hen: 1.36 Kg.
Colours:
Black, Blue, Gold, Partridge, White, in Standard or Bearded
(Standardised).
Useful to Know: Silkies are very persistent
boodies, so good, sometimes they will not eat and require regular removal from
the nest to make sure they get fed. They require sheltered runs since they will
not cope so well with very hot, cold or wet / muddy
conditions.
The Silkie is a very old breed of hen and despite their light weight, are still
classed as 'large fowl' in the UK. They are found in history books going back
around 2000 years ago in China, reaching the UK around the mid 1880's. Silkies
have unusual fluffy feathering, a head crest, very dark skin caused by melanotic
gene and 5 toes that are covered with feathers. They are a unique breed. It is
thought (although as yet unproven) that the Silkie might have been crossed with
other breeds when it reached Europe to create breeds such as the Poland and
Sultan. Silkies are very popular with hobby keepers as is the name 'cloud' for a
white Silkie!
Silkies adapt well to being confined and are fairly docile, making good pet chickens as well as fantastic broodies, pure or crossed with other breeds.
Breeding Hints
Fluff on the underside of Silkies can tangle around young chicks. Cross a Silkie with other harder feathered breeds to get a reliable broody.
very persistent broody, ornamental, exhibition.
Origin:
Asia. Eggs: 100-120 Tinted or Cream.
Weight:
Cock: 1.8 Kg.Hen: 1.36 Kg.
Colours:
Black, Blue, Gold, Partridge, White, in Standard or Bearded
(Standardised).
Useful to Know: Silkies are very persistent
boodies, so good, sometimes they will not eat and require regular removal from
the nest to make sure they get fed. They require sheltered runs since they will
not cope so well with very hot, cold or wet / muddy
conditions.
The Silkie is a very old breed of hen and despite their light weight, are still
classed as 'large fowl' in the UK. They are found in history books going back
around 2000 years ago in China, reaching the UK around the mid 1880's. Silkies
have unusual fluffy feathering, a head crest, very dark skin caused by melanotic
gene and 5 toes that are covered with feathers. They are a unique breed. It is
thought (although as yet unproven) that the Silkie might have been crossed with
other breeds when it reached Europe to create breeds such as the Poland and
Sultan. Silkies are very popular with hobby keepers as is the name 'cloud' for a
white Silkie!
Silkies adapt well to being confined and are fairly docile, making good pet chickens as well as fantastic broodies, pure or crossed with other breeds.
Breeding Hints
Fluff on the underside of Silkies can tangle around young chicks. Cross a Silkie with other harder feathered breeds to get a reliable broody.
SUSSEX
Uses:
Utility - Dual Purpose, Exhibition.
Origin: .
Eggs: 180 - 210 cream / light brown.
Weight: Cock:
4 - 4.2 Kg. Hen: 3 - 3.2 Kg.
Bantam Cock:
1 - 1.2 Kg. Hen: 780 - 800 g.
Colours:
Brown, Buff, Coronation, Light, Red, Speckled, Silver, White
(Standardised UK).
Useful to Know: Hardy, good for
beginners, rarely go broody. Utility Light Sussex are fast
maturing.
The Sussex chicken is a dual purpose utility breed that is also popular on the show
scene and relatively easy to keep. They come in eight colours - Brown, Buff,
Coronation, Light, Red, Speckled, Silver, White (that are standardised in the
UK). They are also available in bantam versions.
Sussex chickens are upright, alert, and usually docile. The Sussex Chicken has a wide, flat back, a deep breast and broad shoulders. Their tail is held at 45 degrees. They have a
single comb and red earlobes and comb. They are good foragers and the Light
Sussex is often used to create hybrids. When crossed with a 'gold' cockerel,
they will produce sex-linked chicks. They rarely go broody.
The Speckled Sussex was created in Britain in the 18th Century, first appearing at a poultry show in 1845. Other colours were soon created with different crosses but the Buff Sussex didn't appear until 1920. The Coronation Sussex was created for the coronation
of King Edward VIII in 1936 (this didn't actually happen because he abdicated
and his younger brother became King George VI) but there were very few birds by
the beginning of WW2. We have found one strain of the original Large Fowl
remaining but Coronation Sussex were re-created and re-introduced by Rob
Whittington. Large Fowl are very Rare.
The original Speckled Sussex chickens are thought to be a cross between white
fleshed table birds and an imported Asiatic bird like the Brahma. The modern
strains of Sussex will lay around 180 to 190 medium sized light brown eggs in a
year for you without artificial lighting. They are a popular white fleshed
chicken used for producing meat. The chicks of all of the varieties are fast to
mature, with the exception of the speckled that takes a little
longer.
Breeding Hints
Light Sussex have 'silver' plumage which when crossed with a 'gold' cockerel, such as
a Rhode Island Red, will produce sex-linked chicks.
WELSUMMER
Uses:
Dual purpose utility - meat and eggs.
Origin: Welsum,
Holland. Eggs: 200 - 250 large, deep
red-brown.
Weight: Cock: 3.2 Kg.Hen: 2.7
Kg.
Bantam Cock: 1.02 Kg, Hen: 790
g.
Colours: Red-Partridge, Silver Duckwing (Standardised
UK), Silver, Golden (both rare and only exist in Germany).
Useful to
Know: The Welsummer UK standard has not been revised since 1932 when
the breed was still young. In reality, some details are simply not achievable,
such as 'upright'. The back should in fact be long and flat, almost horizontal.
Crele Welsummers are standardised as a different breed - The
Welbar.
The Welsummer chicken gets its name from the village of Welsum near the town of
Deventer in the Netherlands where they were slowly created in the farms and
surrounding villages from 1880 onwards. Birds were from assorted origins and
were selected for their large dark brown eggs over their looks. It is thought
that the Brahma, Cochin, Malay, the dark brown egg laying Croad Langshan and
later, the Rhode Island Red and Brown Leghorn is in the make up of these
birds.
The launch of the first Welsummers that consistently bred true to type took place in 1921 in The Hague at the World Poultry Congress. They reached England in 1927. An outline breed standard was first published around 1923 but a more detailed standard was
produced in England in 1929 with a further refinement in 1932.
Bantam Welsummers were created in Germany and England (separately) during the 1930’s. They are very popular abroad but there is a limited number of breeders interested in them in the UK.
Large Welsummers are one of the most popular breeds and strangely are classified as a light breed by the Poultry Club of Great Britain, despite being heavier than say Marans or
Barnevelders that are classed as heavy breeds. This classification is thought to
have occurred because the original birds that were imported into the UK were
lighter than the birds of today.
In Europe, the name of this breed is spelt ‘Welsumer’ with only one ‘m’ but in the UK and America, the spelling used is ‘Welsummer’, which probably came about because of misspellings by the English.
WYANDOTTE
Uses:
Utility (meat) and exhibition.
Origin: America.
Eggs: 80 - 180 tinted.
Weight: Cock: 4.08 Kg
Min.Hen: 3.17 Kg Min.
Bantam Cock: 1.7
Kg.Hen: 1.36 Kg.
Colours: Barred, Black,
Blue, Blue Laced, Buff, Buff Laced, Columbian, Gold Laced, Partridge, Blue
Partridge, Silver Pencilled, Silver Laced, Red, White (Standardised UK) Blue
Laced, Cuckoo, Violet Laced, White Laced Buff (Bantam only).
Useful to Know: Docile and a good choice to have around with children.
Available in Bantam size.
The Wyandotte Chicken originated in the Eastern United States of America. It is
thought that several breeders were trying to create an attractive Silver Laced
large fowl that was a good utility bird. After some attempts to standardise
their individual creations, all of which were slightly different, common ground
was eventually found between the breeders and a provisional standard was drawn
up. The first Silver Laced Wyandottes were recognised by the American Poultry
Association a few years later in 1883.There are currently 8 standardised colour
varieties in America.
The Silver Laced
Wyandotte reached England shortly after being standardised in America and it was
here that breeders realised they could not obtain perfectly marked birds when
breeding stock in a single pen. The American Poultry Association Standard called
for a white back and shoulders on the males and this could not produce females
with perfect black and white lacing. Double mating was introduced where two pens
were used, one with 'cock breeders' and one with 'pullet breeders' that would
each produce their respective correctly marked birds.
Many other colours of Wyandottes soon followed, some
even being popular enough to have their own breed club and commercially, farmers
used a separate strain of the White Wyandotte as a utility bird from the 1920s
onwards. These were short lived though and were no longer of use as egg
producers or table birds once Hybrid Chickens were introduced in the
1950's.
The breed is very popular and new colour varieties are still being created today. One of the most recent is Chocolate Partridge which has been created by Grant Brereton, from an
original project started by the late Dr. Clive Carefoot. A trio of Chocolate
Partridge Wyandottes were on display at the Poultry Club National Exhibition in
Stoneleigh 2009.
Utility (meat) and exhibition.
Origin: America.
Eggs: 80 - 180 tinted.
Weight: Cock: 4.08 Kg
Min.Hen: 3.17 Kg Min.
Bantam Cock: 1.7
Kg.Hen: 1.36 Kg.
Colours: Barred, Black,
Blue, Blue Laced, Buff, Buff Laced, Columbian, Gold Laced, Partridge, Blue
Partridge, Silver Pencilled, Silver Laced, Red, White (Standardised UK) Blue
Laced, Cuckoo, Violet Laced, White Laced Buff (Bantam only).
Useful to Know: Docile and a good choice to have around with children.
Available in Bantam size.
The Wyandotte Chicken originated in the Eastern United States of America. It is
thought that several breeders were trying to create an attractive Silver Laced
large fowl that was a good utility bird. After some attempts to standardise
their individual creations, all of which were slightly different, common ground
was eventually found between the breeders and a provisional standard was drawn
up. The first Silver Laced Wyandottes were recognised by the American Poultry
Association a few years later in 1883.There are currently 8 standardised colour
varieties in America.
The Silver Laced
Wyandotte reached England shortly after being standardised in America and it was
here that breeders realised they could not obtain perfectly marked birds when
breeding stock in a single pen. The American Poultry Association Standard called
for a white back and shoulders on the males and this could not produce females
with perfect black and white lacing. Double mating was introduced where two pens
were used, one with 'cock breeders' and one with 'pullet breeders' that would
each produce their respective correctly marked birds.
Many other colours of Wyandottes soon followed, some
even being popular enough to have their own breed club and commercially, farmers
used a separate strain of the White Wyandotte as a utility bird from the 1920s
onwards. These were short lived though and were no longer of use as egg
producers or table birds once Hybrid Chickens were introduced in the
1950's.
The breed is very popular and new colour varieties are still being created today. One of the most recent is Chocolate Partridge which has been created by Grant Brereton, from an
original project started by the late Dr. Clive Carefoot. A trio of Chocolate
Partridge Wyandottes were on display at the Poultry Club National Exhibition in
Stoneleigh 2009.