primitively bred in cold climates, the feathers were thought to keep their feet warmer
however, one of the downsides of having chicken breeds with feather feet is that the snow can actually get caught up around the feathers and form little clingy snow-balls .
Another issue is that the feather feet much get dirty and can leave your eggs muddy excessively.
Reading: 7 Chicken Breeds with Feathered Feet
My absolute favorite chicken breeds with feather feet are brahma, cochins, and faverolles. I will always have these three in my batch .
My stream cock is a identical big buff brahma, and all of his babies are born with feather feet excessively, so immediately my flock of barnyard mixes all have beautiful feather feet !
Chicken Breeds with Feathered Feet
1. Cochins
We got our cochins as rescues, but they ’ re one of my favorites. They ’ ra large, hardy, fresh, and go broody every spring and Summer .
This makes hatching out raw babies every year a breeze ! We just throw a few eggs under a brooding hen and let her do her caper .
We have three cochins, and they ’ re all such great mamas, they partake parenting duty .
I ’ ve even hear rumors that some cochin roosters will go brood hen !
once endangered, cochins are considered a “ recovering breed ” by the livestock conservancy .
originally from China, this small tailed, large, fully feathered engender took America and England by ramp in the 1850 ’ randomness .
The taiwanese bred these birds for their large size for meat, angstrom well as eggs. A capon ( a male castrated chicken, fattened for eating ) at 15-16 months old reached 12 pound !
While popular for backyard chicken owners, they never caught on for commercial operations. In 1895, Stephen Beale tied called them the “ least profitable of all of our breeds of domestic fowl. ”
While their size makes for a estimable wimp dinner, the produce eggs well into the Winter, and their broodiness makes hatching babies a breeze, they besides are not identical fast, will not wander far, and can not fly ampere well as early breeds, meaning they ’ ll stay out of your garden if you have a fence .
2. Brahma
Brahma ’ mho besides appeared on the scene out of China shortly after the Cochins around the 1850s. Larger than cochins, they were once reported to be the largest chickens on Earth .
While not coming out of China as an official breed, cochins and early large fowl such as Chittigong from India and others were used to develop the engender in America .
Their large size and docile natures lend them to besides be called “ gentle giants ” .
I ’ megabyte sure you ’ ve seen this television floating approximately Facebook of a shockingly huge Brahma cock .
besides like the cochins, brahmas have an impressive carcase weight, are good egg-layers and produce eggs well into Winter .
In fact, they produce the bulk of their eggs from October to May. possibly because their excess feather may make them hotter in the Summer .
From the mid-1850 ’ s through about 1930, they were the leading breed of kernel birds. They were often harvested at 8-10 weeks of historic period ( much sooner than other breeds – increasing their profitableness ). And their roosters however made a tasty broiler adenine late as 12-13 months .
Like the cochins, they will not fly over a humble fence, have calm and docile personalities and boom in cold, Northern climates .
We chose a brahma as homestead chicken beget due to his size – the roosters he fathers are destined for the neckcloth pot, and his hens all have docile personalities and lay large eggs .
3. Belgain d’Uccle
Originating in the town of Uccle in Belgium, these adorable chicken breed with feathered feet come in many unlike shapes, sizes and colors .
Michel Van Gelder developed this breed in the late 1800s for exhibition .
They have a sugared and docile personality, good suited to pets alternatively of livestock.
One of the varieties of belgian d ’ Uccles is the Millie Fleur ( meaning 1000 flowers ), which has an about polka-dotted fledge convention. The Mille Fleur was accepted into the APA Standard of Perfection in 1914 .
While they don ’ thyroxine produce as many eggs as the more popular wimp breeds, their looks far make up for it. They are just stunning .
They besides make excellent mothers and easily go broody .
4. Silkies
Another breed that doesn ’ metric ton lay adenine well, and often goes brood hen are silkies. Silkies are named so because their feathers tend to be smaller, and satiny, but fluffier – if that makes any sense .
While their official origin is obscure, the best guess is that they come from ancient China .
The earliest software documentation of a “ furred chicken ” comes from Marco Polo ’ second travels through Asia in the thirteenth hundred .
In 1598, Ulisse Aldrovandi, a naturalist in Italy, wrote about “ wool-bearing chicken ” and “ clothed with hair like that of a black caterpillar. ”
While the breed was officially recognized in 1874, sideshows and breeders would spread the myths that they were actually the offspring of chickens and rabbits, or that they had mammalian fur .
They besides have black bark and bones, blue earlobe and five toes on each foot .
due to their size, the fact that they waddle more than run, and their downy feather blocking their eyesight, you should not allow silkies to free-range – they ’ re excessively easy a target .
While they are not great layers, and don ’ t make an attractive table bird, they are beautiful and people pay a pretty penny for silkies .
5. Booted Bantams
As their name suggested, booted bantams are bantam ( little breed ) of feather-footed chickens .
While not bred for eggs or kernel, these booted bantams are bred about entirely for show .
And they are show-stoppers .
They have boastfully, upright tails, a individual comb with five points, downward-pointing wings, and come in more than 20 color varieties .
The boot bantam is close related the belgian five hundred ’ Uccle. The Booted bantam is slenderly improbable, while the Belgain sports a fetching beard .
6. Faverolles
Faverolles are beautiful feather-footed chickens that were developed in France in the late 1800s .
Developed from cochins, hudans and dorkings, faverolles have the size we look for in kernel birds, while besides being estimable layers .
In accession to being fat on the homestead, they have docile, cover girl personalities .
They have beautiful beards and muffs, and long feather legs .
7. Sultans
Originating in Turkey ( the area ) the Sultan is a rare breed and has been endangered since 1854 when it beginning arrived in England .
soon after, in 1867, made their way to America. An writer and poultry technical, Mr. George O. Brown noted that they were the tamest and most contented birds he ever owned .
They were more adoring of grains and insects than grass and vegetables and “ about constantly ” sang that contented chicken birdcall .
They are about solidly white, with a crown, beard, muffs, feathered feet and give toes on each foot.
It is said they were used as “ living ornaments ” in the gardens of the Sultans .
They lay big white eggs and lay well from March through September .
sol if you ’ re looking to add some feather-footed chickens to your backyard breeds, these 7 will give you a good place to start ! But very – wimp mathematics .
