Chickens

Mottled black-and-white Mediterranean layer of small white eggs.

Bearded Swiss breed nearly lost to history.

Swiss mountain breed with forward-tilted feathered crest.

Rumpless, tufted, blue-egg laying breed of the Mapuche people.

One of the oldest gamefowl breeds — muscular, upright, ancient.

Black Orpington-descended layer; world record holder for eggs.

Hybrid of Green Junglefowl and domestic hen; sacred to Madurese sailors.

Fibromelanistic — every feather, bone, and organ rendered in obsidian.

The 'laughing chicken' — prized for its distinctive crowing rhythm.

Tall Indonesian breed bred for long, melodious crows.

Dutch dual-purpose breed with double-laced plumage and dark brown eggs.

Dutch-American breed on the Livestock Conservancy critical list.

The classic American barred farm hen.

Heritage Basque breed in five recognised varieties.

Auto-sexing German breed combining colour and productivity.

French dark-brown egg layer — the 'chocolate egg' breed.

Slate-blue laced Mediterranean breed celebrated for elegance.

Blue-feathered Marans variant with the same coveted dark eggs.

Crested, V-comb Dutch breed dating to the 1600s.

The 'King of Chickens' — massive feathered-leg heritage breed.

Combless Dutch breed with high-set wings and feathered legs.

AOC-protected French breed with steel-blue legs and red comb.

The original wild-coloured Leghorn from Tuscany.

Only American breed developed by a woman — mahogany, pea-combed.

Buttery-yellow English breed — the friendliest backyard hen.

Slim Belgian layer with barred plumage and white earlobes.

Catalan dual-purpose breed with buff plumage and black tail.

Canada's only breed — cushion comb, cold-hardy, near extinction.

Massive feather-footed breed that sparked the 19th-century 'hen fever'.

Muscular meat breed with broad shoulders and pea comb.

Crested French breed with V-comb — one of the oldest in France.

Tall feather-legged Chinese breed; foundation of many modern types.

Cuban tail-swept gamefowl — distinctive 'lobster tail'.

Mid-century American broiler breed displaced by the Cornish Cross.

English breed famed for its enormous rose comb.

Oldest American breed — barred plumage, rose comb, colonial-era.

Five-toed Roman-era breed; the rectangular, low-slung table fowl.

Pencilled silver layer with origins in the Nile delta.

Catalan dark-brown egg breed similar to Marans.

Plumage curls outward in every direction — a feathering mutation.

Tall, upright variant of the Chinese Langshan.

Sleek pencilled or spangled breed with rose comb.

American breed bred from Dutch stock for white-egg production.

Five-toed crested French breed with mottled plumage.

Despite the name, a chestnut-and-silver American heritage breed.

Auto-sexing Swedish breed laying green eggs.

White English dual-purpose breed developed in the 1930s.

Second-oldest American breed; foundation for Jersey Giant and Plymouth Rock.

The largest purebred chicken — gentle giants in black, blue, or white.

Gamefowl-derived breed with walnut comb and silver-pencilled plumage.

The 'devil bird' — V-comb French breed near extinction.

'Shadow on a sheet' — white body with black hackle and tail.

Functionally extinct USDA-developed white breed.

Soft self-blue Orpington variant prized for plumage.

Massive Belgian gamefowl — among the largest of all fighting breeds.

White-bodied Sussex with black hackle and tail.

Tallest of all chicken breeds — three-feather walnut comb.

Heavy Belgian table breed in cuckoo plumage.

Rose-combed English breed nearly lost in the 20th century.

Largest Mediterranean breed — huge red comb and white earlobes.

Sculpted exhibition gamefowl — long legs, tight feathering.

Featherless neck mutation; surprisingly hardy and productive.

Faster-maturing American breed selected from Rhode Island Reds.

Birchen English breed once nearly extinct.

Ancient British gamefowl — the foundation of countless exhibition breeds.

Spangled pheasant-pattern English breed.

Japanese Natural Monument — tail feathers grow continuously for years.

Plush, deep-bodied English breed in many colours.

Crested Russian breed — feathered legs and spangled plumage.

Catalan dark-egg breed with carnation comb.

Long-tailed exhibition breed bred from Onagadori stock.

Famous crested breed with a globe of head feathers.

America's most successful dual-purpose breed.

White rose-combed cousin of the famous Red.

Muffed, bearded, walnut-combed cold-climate breed.

Towering Pacific gamefowl up to a metre tall.

French five-toed, muffed, bearded breed; salmon plumage is iconic.

Short-legged Scottish heritage breed.

Cuckoo-barred Scottish breed dating to the 1500s.

Powerful Japanese gamefowl — upright, sparsely feathered.

Distinctive cup-shaped crown comb — Sicilian heritage breed.

Silk-like plumage, black skin, five toes — the imperial ornamental.

American breed with intricate lacing in multiple colours.

Friendly mahogany-and-white English breed.

Crested Austrian table breed once served at Habsburg courts.

Five-toed, crested, feather-legged 'Serai-Tavuk' — chicken of the sultans.

Iridescent green-black gamefowl — sweeping multiple-tail.

Mille-fleur Swedish landrace recovered from near extinction.

Heavy meat-type Naked Neck developed in the Hapsburg lands.

Belted German breed — buff body with black hackle and tail.

Dutch breed laying speckled terracotta eggs.

Lighter-feathered Marans, often considered the breed's original colour.

The world's most prolific commercial white-egg layer.

Striking white-faced Mediterranean — among the oldest in Spain.

Striking white-laced colour variety of the Cornish.

Long-tailed exhibition breed — Onagadori-derived.