There are many different breeds you can select from when keeping chickens. What type of chickens you finally decide to keep will depend on what’s available in your area as well as your purpose for keeping them. Here are but a few…
The Anacona originates form Italy and comes from early Leghorn breeds. It is an extremely hardy and productive.
Anaconas are black with white tipped feathers and are also called Black Leghorns. These birds are excellent egg layers and were once the most important egg producing breed in Europe. They can lay many large white eggs. They can tolerate a variety of climates and are very good foragers. You can find a single comb Anacona variety and a rose comb, Anacona variety.
The Andalusian breed was first found in Spain but was developed further in the United States and England. These birds are small and tend to be very active and noisy.
Andulasian’s are a perfect example of an unstable blue color as their color is due to a genetic cross between black and white, so many different color varieties occur from a blue bird breeding with a blue bird. The breeding birds will produce white birds, black birds and blue birds. These birds are not widely breed because the percentage of good blue birds produced from mating is low.
The Appenzell Bearded Hen has a beard that protects its earlobes, throat and small rose comb, hence the name. These birds can be found in both partridge and black. They can be crossed with Andulasians resulting in a blue version.
This breed is ideally suited to a rough mountain climate; with its beard cover all sensitive areas. They have powerful wings that aid it in finding food in any condition. Appenzell hen’s white-shelled eggs weight approximately 55g each and they can produce up to 150 eggs in their first laying year.
Like the Appenzell Bearded Hen, the Appenzell Pointed Hood Hen is ideally suited for mountain conditions, as it has survived in the Alps for centuries. This breed of hen may have originated sometime during the 15th century and is currently only found in Appenzell in nature.
These hens are excellent climbers and flyers. It is not very susceptible to frost bite due to its small throat and horns instead of a comb. These hens laying capabilities are very similar to Appenzell Bearded Hens.
The Ac is a hen with black skin and white friends. It is a traditional Vietnamese breed hen and is used as meat supply for restaurants. They lay about 15 eggs per laying cycle and each egg weighs about 30 g.
The Araucana hen was first discovered in South America and has been crossed with so many other chickens that many of its characteristics were lost. A characteristic that has endured is its capacity to lay blue or greenish eggs. Breeders are currently trying to re-establish the population as it is expected that they will be beneficial to the economy and hobby chicken farmer.
The Aseel hen cannot be found in the United States. It however is a relative of the Cornish, which is considered a premium hen. The older Aseel is considered one of the purest purebred hens found in the world. The Aseel can be found in White, Duckwing, Pye, Black, Red Spangled, Pyle and other colors.
The females lay tinted shell eggs. These birds tend to be very powerful and strong with thick and muscular thighs. They have almost no wattle and a very small pea comb. These birds are typically bread for British fanciers.
The Asutralop is a black feather hen that lays brown eggs. It has a meaty body and is a productive egg layer.
The Australia was breed in Australia from Black Orpington stock. These black birds have a lovely green sheen. An Australop hen holds the record for world egg production as it layed 364 eggs in 365 days. It was very popular for crossing with a white Leghorn to produce the AustaWhite. The AustaWhite was a successor to many midwestern purebred breeds, making the Australop both a great egg producing hen but also an exceptional breeder.
