Minorca Chicken

Minorca Chicken is a Spanish breed originating on the Mediterranean island of Menorca in the Balearic Islands, with the internationally standardized form developed by British breeders during and after Britain's occupation of the island from 1708 to 1783 and documented imports to Britain in the 1780s. The Spanish standard calls for uniformly glossy greenish-black plumage, while internationally recognized varieties also include blue, white, buff and barred. The breed is notable for very large, oval or almond shaped white earlobes, and it was historically prized as a highly productive layer of large white eggs, with hens beginning to lay around 26 weeks of age and producing roughly 120 eggs a year. Minorca Chicken is now endangered both on its home island, where it is considered at risk of extinction, and internationally, with a 2026 global population estimated at just over a thousand birds across nine reporting countries.