Norfolk Rare Breeds Centre

A large graceful bird, with delicate foot feathering, either white or dense black with bottle green hue in colouring. 200 eggs per year which are brown with a pink to plum hue

Marsh Daisies always had the reputation of being very hardy and productive, with good breast meat on the males and plenty of large tinted eggs from the hens. Sadly the breed has become extremely rare and has lost some of that egg size.

The breed has existed in several colours, Black, Buff, White, Brown, Wheaten and Red Wheaten, although the first three are not seen now. All the colours have distinctive rose combs, whitish ear lobes and the green legs, so characteristic of the breed. They still retain the high quality flesh noted for its excellent flavour.

The Scots Grey originated in Scotland where it has been bred for over 200 years. It is a hardy breed being well adapted to cold or damp conditions with excellent foraging ability. They are an excellent dual-purpose breed producing table birds with fine, well flavoured flesh.

Both the males and females have a straight single red comb and pink-white legs and feet spotted with black. The plumage appears steel-grey in colour with black barring. The hens lay an average of 150 large pale cream coloured eggs each year but are not renowned for their broodiness, often deserting the nest after 10 or 12 days.

The Norfolk Grey was created by Mr Myhill of Norwich, under the original name of 'Black Marias', and was first shown at the 1920 Dairy Show. Both Large Fowl and Bantam versions are standardised in one plumage colour, and are classified as a 'Heavy' breed. Active and foraging, the Norfolk Grey produces tinted eggs and is capable of attaining a good carcass size for meat production if allowed to mature slowly. The breed appears fairly regularly at shows, particularly in its county of origin and is capable of winning prizes when on top form.

It is considered a heavy breed with low longevity. It has a broad, powerful body with prominent shoulders set on strong thick legs. The wings are short and close to the body. The pea type comb is deep red in colour. There are two varieties, the Dark Indian Game and the Jubilee Indian game. The Dark variety has rich mahogany feathering with a bottle green tint and a chestnut or bay centre mark. The Jubilee cock birds have white feathers with bay or chestnut shafts and markings while the females are somewhat darker in colour. The cock birds average 3.5kg and the hen birds 2.5kg in weight. The hens lay around of 75 eggs per year, which are tinted in colour. They produce a traditional type table bird with a large proportion of breast meat.

The Welsummer was imported into the UK from Holland in the 1920s, at a time when dark brown coloured eggs were much in demand. Predominantly a utility breed, the breed is hardy and thrives under free range conditions producing good numbers of its dark brown, 'flowerpot' coloured eggs. However, although classified as a 'Light' breed and usually very active, their bodies are fairly large and the birds quite docile. Most people consider the colouring very attractive and reminiscent of a traditional 'farmyard' bird. Both large fowl and bantam versions are standardised, and there is also an attractive silver duckwing version

The Sussex is derived from the original Old Sussex fowls, bred for their meat and eggs in Victorian times. The formation of the 1903 Sussex Breed Club led to further development in colours and varieties, many with spectacular, beautiful feather patterns. Sussex are graceful, possessing a long, broad, flat back, tail at an angle of 45 degrees, fine neat head and a medium sized single comb. The eyes of darker colours are red, the lighter ones, orange, but all colours have red earlobes and white legs and feet. The breed comes in large and bantam sizes, with the Light Sussex bantam being by far the most popular.