Hamburg Chicken

Hamburg Chicken is a breed most closely associated with Dutch origins for its gold and silver pencilled varieties, with other color varieties developed in the Lancashire and Yorkshire regions of England, though its exact early history is not well documented. Six color patterns are internationally recognized, including silver-spangled, gold-spangled, silver-pencilled, gold-pencilled, black and white, with several additional varieties known but not formally recognized by every standard. The breed is a small to medium sized bird, prized above all as a highly prolific layer, producing roughly 120 to 170 white eggs a year, a productivity that has kept it valued among small flock keepers even as it is bred principally for exhibition today. The FAO and the DAD-IS global livestock database both classify Hamburg Chicken as not at risk, though it continues to appear on some regional heritage watchlists.