The Leghorn, Italian: Livorno or Livornese, is a breed of chicken originating in Tuscany, in central Italy. Birds were first exported to North America in 1828 from the Tuscan port city of Livorno, on the western coast of Italy. They were initially called "Italians", but by 1865 the breed was known as "Leghorn", the traditional anglicisation of "Livorno". The breed was introduced to Britain from the United States in 1870. White Leghorns are commonly used as layer chickens in many countries of the world. Other Leghorn varieties are less common.
The Orpington is a British breed of chicken. It was bred in the late nineteenth century by William Cook of Orpington, at that time in Kent in south-east England. It was intended to be a dual-purpose breed, to be reared both for eggs and for meat, but soon became exclusively a show bird.
The German Langshan is a breed of chicken developed from the exported Croad Langshan in Germany. It is a large, robust breed of exceptional height. Though most often raised for show, it has practical application as a layer and meat bird, as well. The standard-sized German Langshan is uncommon in both the United States and the United Kingdom, but the bantam form is popular in the latter.
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.
The Indian Game is a British breed of game chicken, now reared either for meat or show. It originated in the early nineteenth century in the counties of Cornwall and Devon in south-west England. It is a heavy, muscular bird with an unusually broad breast; the eggs are brown.
The Australorp is a chicken breed of Australian origin, developed as a utility breed with a focus on egg laying and is famous for laying more than 300 eggs per year. It achieved world-wide popularity in the 1920s after the breed broke numerous world records for number of eggs laid and has been a popular breed in the western world since. It is one of eight poultry breeds created in Australia and recognised by the Australian Poultry Standards. The most popular colour of the breed is black, which is the only colour recognised in the United States of America, but blue and white are also recognised in Australia and the Poultry Club South Africa recognises buff, splash, wheaten laced and golden in addition.
The Pekin Bantam is a British breed of bantam chicken. It derives from birds brought to Europe from China in the nineteenth century, and is named for the city of Peking where it was believed to have originated. It is a true bantam, with no corresponding large fowl. It is recognised only in the United Kingdom, where the Cochin has no recognised bantam version; like the Cochin, it has heavy feathering to the legs and feet. The Entente Européenne treats the Pekin Bantam as equivalent to the bantam Cochin.
The Sussex is a British breed of dual-purpose chicken, reared both for its meat and for its eggs. Eight colours are recognised for both standard-sized and bantam fowl. A breed association, the Sussex Breed Club, was organised in 1903.
The Marans, French: Poule de Marans, is a French breed of dual-purpose chicken, reared both for meat and for its dark brown eggs. It originated in or near the port town of Marans, in the département of Charente-Maritime, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France.
The Wyandotte is an American breed of chicken developed in the 1870s. It was named for the indigenous Wyandot people of North America. The Wyandotte is a dual-purpose breed, kept for its brown eggs and its yellow-skinned meat. It is a popular show bird, and has many color variants. It was originally known as the American Sebright.
The Croad Langshan is an old, heavy, soft-feathered chicken breed which probably originated in China.
The Sebright is a British breed of bantam chicken. It is a true bantam – a miniature bird with no corresponding large version – and is one of the oldest recorded British bantam breeds. It is named after Sir John Saunders Sebright, who created it as an ornamental breed by selective breeding in the early nineteenth century.
The Dutch Bantam is a breed of bantam chicken originating in the Netherlands. It is a true bantam, a naturally small bird with no related large fowl from which it was miniaturized. It is kept mainly for exhibition, and has been bred in many color varieties; it is a good layer of small eggs.
The Brabanter is a Dutch breed of crested chicken originating in the historic region of Brabant which straddles Belgium and the Netherlands. It is an ancient breed and is shown in 17th-century paintings. A bantam Brabanter was created in around 1934.
The Silver Appleyard is a British breed of domestic duck. It was bred in the first half of the twentieth century by Reginald Appleyard, with the aim of creating a dual-purpose breed that would provide both a good quantity of meat and plenty of eggs.
The Australian Langshan is an Australian chicken breed, derived from the Croad Langshan and accepted by the Australian Poultry Standard as a recognized breed. The Australian Langshan is little known outside Australia but is a popular breed inside the country. The breed comes in both bantam and standard size.
Solid black plumage color refers to a plumage pattern in chickens characterized by a uniform, black color across all feathers. There are chicken breeds where the typical plumage color is black, such as Australorp, Sumatra, White-Faced Black Spanish, Jersey Giant and others. And there are many other breeds having different color varieties, which also have an extended black variety, such as Leghorn, Minorca, Wyandotte, Orpington, Langshan and others.
The Modern Langshan is a breed of chicken derived from the Croad Langshan. Though today it is rarely seen, the breed was at one time fairly popular.
The chicken breeds recognized by the American Poultry Association are listed in the American Standard of Perfection. They are categorized into classes: standard-sized breeds are grouped by type or by place of origin, while bantam breeds are classified according to type or physical characteristics.
