The Ancona Chicken As An Egg Layer
Posted: Friday, October 29, 2010
by Kor Rassad
From far away Ancona, In the Province of Ancona, Italy, the popular Ancona chicken was sent to England in the early eighteen hundreds, followed in the late eighteen hundreds by a trip to America. From its origins in Italy to spreading around the world.
The spangled color of the Ancona most likely came from the intermingling of the Original Mottled Leghorn and the Black Leghorn. The Ancona inherited greenish black feathers (some purple tinting) with tips of white. Also got those lovely yellow, featherless legs ending in four well-spaced toes. Yes, toes... And earlobes of white. Yes, earlobes! Of course, toes assist with balance. Very important in chasing bugs... For a chicken. Ears as well! The Anconas in Italy feature colors of reds, browns and white, sometimes showing up with copper color in the hackles on the neck.
There are Red Australian types, Bantam and many large and smaller kinds. They are pretty common. The Australian variety is red with white specks on the neck area feathers.
Moulting (losing feathers) is natural and as these feathers grow back in, the white tips will grow back larger, allowing the age to be determined quite easily. The six pound rooster is a bit larger than the hen, who weighs in at a mere four and a half pounds. She is a great egg producer and as a pet, living eight years makes them about perfect.
Speaking of eggs, they lay from one hundred sixty to one hundred eighty large white eggs, (about one a day) a year. It has been said that occasionally there will be tinted eggs. They convert feed to egg production quite well. Given an adequate place to lay these eggs will keep them happy... So will the owner!
The hen is not too broody but does raise strong little chickies fast and if a few are hand-raised by the owner, they do make nice pets. They are friendly and will follow around.
Housing is not difficult for the chickens if the owner keeps in mind a few things: the females are active and love to get around, they like wide open spaces and they are not adversely affected by winter weather. The rooster is happy to just walk around so he could care less if he were in a smaller enclosure! The chicken coop (house) itself is for keeping the chickens, hen and rooster, safe from the bad guys and the weather off from them! Nest boxes would be in there also. The owner can keep the "pet" chicken closer to them if desired!
Online there is a game of war and magic that uses the Ancona chicken as a friendly pet. The pet won't fight their battles but can be summoned at will, to follow them around as the warrior chooses! Why don't chickens care for humans? Because they beat their eggs!! (snort, guffaw, chuckle).
To continue reading more about Chicken Coops, and other Chicken Breeds, visit ChickenCoopAdvice.com
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