POTTERS

 Norfolk Grey

POL IN STOCK

The majestic Brahma is an old breed with its roots far back in time; as with many heritage breeds, the exact genetic makeup of this bird is unknown. Historians have reconstructed the likely origins of this noble bird from clues left in the poultry books and journals of the 1800s.

Famed for its size and known as King of ‘Chickens’, it’s a docile, calm bird that is a both used for meat, and egg laying. They are sedate birds with broad, deep bodies, full breast and long powerful, orange or brilliant yellow legs and feet covered with abundant soft feathers which produces lovely big floppy feet. The head is small for such a large bird and the face is smooth and free from feathers with large, prominent eyes, short strong beak and a triple or pea comb and small wattles. The brow is broad which produces heavy eyebrows. 

Brahmas are very large, stately, docile birds who make good reliable broodies which can cover a large number of eggs due to their size. The eggs are small and low in number but chicks hatch strongly and grow quickly. Their feathering is beautiful and they are very elegant birds. 

They will happily stay behind 2-3 foot fencing and prefer dry conditions because of their foot feathering they can develop mud balls (or fecal balls) on their toes. If this is not removed, the loss of nails or the tips of the toes may result. 

They are slow maturing and take two years to reach maturity. They are trusting birds and are easy to tame. 

Because of their size, they do take up a lot of space but they do not fly and can be let out to roam happily in the garden. Hens don't start to lay until they are around six or seven months old and the eggs are as small as those of the larger miniature breeds. 

They do continue laying throughout the winter unlike some pure breeds. Their profuse feathering makes them very good at withstanding cold winter weather. 

They are tolerant towards other breeds so can be kept together with other varieties without any problems and can even be submissive towards others despite their large size. Even the cockerels will tolerate each other. They make very little noise and even the cockerels do not crow particularly loudly. 

Purpose - Dual Eggs & Meat

The Araucana comes from South America and are named after the Araucano tribe of Native South Americans. There are records of blue egg laying chickens in South America going back to the 1520’s. They first appeared in Europe at the World Poultry Congress in The Netherlands in 1921, exhibited by Prof. Castello who imported them around 1914. These were rumpless birds with pea combs and tufts of feathers growing near their ears and laid blue eggs. Rumpless birds had an advantage in the wild because predators struggled to catch them. 

 Great back garden bird. They are hardy with a great resistance to all common poultry-related diseases. The breed is a great flier so wings may have to be clipped or they will need to be kept in a fully enclosed run.

Araucanas are an active, hardy, light breed that lay a unique blue/green egg with colour permeating right through the shell. The Araucana is one of the most varied breeds. It comes in tailed, crested and rumpless, tufted versions. Both types have thick muffs and beards.

The Cochin is a breed of large domestic chicken. It derives from large feather-legged chickens brought from China to Europe and North America in the 1840s and 1850s. It is reared principally for exhibition. It was formerly known as Cochin-China.