 A silver-spangled cock | |
 A blue pullet | |
| Conservation status | |
|---|---|
| Other names | |
| Country of origin |
|
| Standard | NHDB (in Dutch) |
| Traits | |
| Weight | |
| Skin colour | white |
| Egg colour | white |
| Comb type | rose |
| Classification | |
| APA | continental [5] |
| EE | yes [6] |
| PCGB | soft feather: light [7] |
| |
The Hamburg, Dutch : Hollands hoen, German : Hamburger, is a Dutch breed of chicken The name may be spelled Hamburgh in the United Kingdom and in Australia. [8]
The history and origins of the Hamburgh are not known. [4] : 127 The gold-pencilled and silver-pencilled colour varieties appear to be of Dutch origin, and show some similarity to the Assendelfter. [9] : 72 Other varieties appear to have developed in the United Kingdom, particuarly in the counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire. [9] : 72
The Hamburg is a small or medium-sized breed. For most colour varieties, cocks weigh 2–2.5 kg and hens about 1.6–1.8 kg [3] or 1.5–2 kg; [10] weights for the pencilled varieties are lower, at about 1.5–1.7 kg and 1.2–1.4 kg respectively. [3] . Weights for bantams are roughly 700–1000 g for cocks and 600–800 g for hens. [4] : 131 [11]
The standard ring sizes are 16 mm for cocks and 15 mm for hens, but for the pencilled variants are 15 mm and 13 mm respectively. [3]
Five different colour varieties are recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain: silver-spangled, gold-spangled, silver-pencilled, gold-pencilled and black. [4] : 128 The same five are included in the American Standard of Perfection, with the addition of the white. [5] The Entente Européenne recognises these six and also the blue; [6] a further five are listed but not recognised: citron-pencilled, gold-white-pencilled, gold-blue-pencilled, cuckoo and red. [6]
The Hamburgh is bred principally for exhibition. Hens lay approximately 120 or 170 white eggs per year, with an average weight of some 50 or 56 g; [3] : 39 [10] bantam hens lay some 130 or 140 eggs weighing about 30 or 35 g. [3] [11] : 39
