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BREED DESCRIPTIONS
Please see Hybrids For Sale or Pure Breeds For Sale for current availability. All photo's used on our website are of our own livestock.
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Hybrid hens are a cross of breeds designed to produce a hen who will lay all year round, and be strong and healthy - basically the best qualities of pure bred hens are selected and mixed to produce the hybrid. SUSSEX
The Sussex is a very attractive medium sized, traditional style white bird with black hackle feathers around the neck and on the tail. They are capable of laying approximately 260 light to mid brown eggs per year.
RHODE ROCK
The Rhode Rock is a sex-linked Hybrid bred from the Rhode Island Red and a Barred Plymouth Rock. They are not easily stressed and are generally very confident, friendly birds.They love being outside and will appreciate plenty of space. They are capable of laying approximately 300 brown eggs per year.
BLUEBELL
The Bluebell is a very attractive larger hen in shades of light to dark grey/blue. They are a cross between a Maran and a Rhode Island Red. They are capable of laying approximately 260+ eggs per year, the eggs are brown with an unusual 'plum' tint.
SPECKLEDY A traditional farmyard 'speckled' hen. The Speckledy is a modern hybrid based on the traditional Maran hen. The feathering closely resembles that of a Maran but it is a far more prolific egg layer. They are reliable layers and are capable of producing 270 brown eggs which are are usually speckled.
RANGER/BLACKTAIL 
Based on a cross between a Rhode Island Red and a Light Sussex, the Rangers/Blacktails are very easy to manage and are usually very friendly birds. Blacktails are a chestnut brown with black accents on their neck and tail feathers, Rangers are similar but with white accents on their neck and tail feathers. They are hardy and withstand disease and stress. Superb layers capable of producing 330 eggs per year, an ideal first bird.
AMBER
Very good laying hens - Ambers vary in colour from a beautiful cream/champagne colour to a cream with red/brown markings. They are capable of producing around 330 eggs per year. They are generally exceptionally friendly, calm and gentle hens and great with children.
COLUMBINE
A lovely hybrid hen based on the Legbar. These hens have an 80% chance of laying a blue/green egg, the remainder will lay a pastel coloured egg. Columbines can have a reputation for being a little bit nervy, but I have found that many of them are actually very calm and friendly - just observe them for a while when you come to choose, and you can pick out the calm hens. There is a huge variety in colour and markings and they are a very attractive, unusual bird. Most have distinctive 'pompoms' on top of their heads.
WHITE STAR
Lovely dainty little birds based on Leghorns, they are very pretty when fully mature and have large floppy red combs. They are very inquisitive and can become very friendly, but if they don't want to be picked up they can run fast! One of my favourite hens as they can be so cheeky. They lay a surprisingly large egg, are excellent layers and are capable of producing 300+ eggs per year. Their eggs are china white, a very rare colour nowadays.
EGG LAYING COMPARISON The chickens are capable of laying approximately this amount of eggs under optimal conditions (temperature and daylight controlled), but please be aware many factors will influence how many eggs they lay - they are not machines!
PURE BREEDS LEGBARS Legbars are best known for being layers of lovely coloured eggs, varying from a delicate blue to an olive green. They are also really attractive birds and the hens have various sizes of lovely 'pompom's' on their heads or in some cases just a spiky 'hair-do'! These are one of my favourite breeds and they have the added advantage of being auto-sexing. This means you can tell with 95% certainty at hatching what sex the birds are. The females have sharply defined head markings and the males have more smudged markings. I have a lovely group of really high quality hens and one cockerel, and sell the chicks sexed from a day old. Legbars can be quite flighty so are not the best choice if you have children.
LAVENDER ORPINGTONS
The Lavender is a very rare colour of Orpington. These birds are beautiful, big and fluffy. The colour is a very soft Lavender/grey and is produced by crossing a black Orpington who carries the Lavender gene (called a 'Split gene') with another bird carrying the Lavender gene. I am currently crossing the Lavender birds to black Orpingtons to introduce new bloodlines to my flock and increase the size of the birds. They are naturally very tame and docile - true gentle giants.
BLACK & BUFF ORPINGTONS
Buff Orpingtons are probably the best known colour of Orpington and they vary from a pale creamy, caramel colour to a dark ginger. I have a mix of colours, some pale and some darker but all the birds fade to a paler colour over the year in the sunlight - a small price to pay for running free range. My black Orpingtons have lovely glossy black feathers with a green sheen. They are a wonderful, deep bodied shape - really stunning birds. All my black Orpingtons carry the Lavender gene as they are sired by the Lavender cockerel pictured above. Whether you choose Lavender, Black or Buff Orpington they all share the wonderful, friendly docile character common to Orpingtons.
JERSEY GIANTS
Black Jersey Giant Cockerel Breeding group of Black Jersey Giants
My Black Jersey Giant cockerel with a full grown Rhode Rock hen for size comparison! I have Jersey Giants in black. The blacks have stunning black feathering with a deep beetle green sheen.They are lovely large birds but probably not as 'giant' as people expect. At first glance they only look about the same size as a large Orpington, but the reason for calling them giants only becomes apparent when you pick them up - they are incredibly heavy! Unlike Orpingtons that are 50% fluff, the Jersey Giants are very heavily fleshed and tightly feathered. They were originally a dual purpose bird bred in America for both eggs and the table. They lay a medium to large sized egg. The hens are nice natured, friendly birds and I haven't yet come across a cockerel that shows any signs of aggression.
BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCK
Barred Plymouth Rocks are very attractive traditional birds. They were originally bred to be a dual purpose chicken - supplying a good quantity of eggs as well as producing a good table bird. They have the added advantage of producing sex linked chicks when crossed with breeds with the gold gene. They carry the silver gene so when this cross is carried out the chicks can be sexed at a day old. They are well know for being used as one of the parent birds of Black/Rhode Rocks.They are generally really friendly and enjoy human company. Please see our Hybrid Hens For Sale or Pure Breeds For Sale page for current availability
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