The Norfolk Gray Hen is a dual purpose breed that is now very rare. The breed originated in the town of Norwich, Norfolk, England around 1910. Frederick W. Myhill of Hethel created a Norfolk Gray hen as a service bird called Black Mary.
The breed was originally created before 1914, possibly as early as 1908. And the name “Norfolk Gray Chicken” was sadly reminiscent of a funeral, and was soon abandoned, and the breed took the name Norfolk Gray instead . It is a heavy breed of chicken, but not too large.
These hens are said to have been bred by crossing English Birch Game with Wyandotte Partridge, or possibly English Birch Game with Winged Leghorns. There is a slimmed down version of this breed of chicken.
Characteristics of the Norfolk Gray Hen
These chickens have a red crest and face with black eyes. Their feet are slate or black. The plumage of the Norfolk Gray hen is nicely marked and the roosters have a beautiful silver tuft with black stripes, as do the feathers on the neck, saddle, back and wings.
And the rest of the plumage is black. The coat of the hen is similar to the feathering of roosters, but females otherwise have rich black plumage all around except for the silver laced neck. It is a medium breed.
On average, standard Norfolk Gray roosters weigh around 3.2 kg and hens around 2.7 kg. Photo from Wikipedia.
Behaviour/Temperament
These chickens are excellent foragers and a very economical breed. They do very well in the wild. It is a hardy breed, able to cope with bad weather without any problem. This breed is suitable for both meat and egg production.
These chickens can produce a good sized carcass for meat production if allowed to mature slowly. And the hens produce a large number of medium-colored eggs. And hens are also good winter laying hens.
It is a friendly breed and a docile nature. They can fly, but they are not good pilots. So, in order to grow this breed of chickens, it is not necessary to have a high fence. The Norfolk Gray Chicken is not known to be a good babysitter. Chickens are sometimes incubated.
In short, Norfolk Gray is an excellent choice for small farmers. See this chicken breed’s full profile below.
| Breed name | Norfolk Gray |
| another name | everything |
| Purpose of the breed | Dual purpose (meat and eggs) |
| Broad temperament | Active, calm, friendly, quiet, easy to handle |
| Breed size | big |
| sullen instinct | Rarely |
| comb | A |
| climatic tolerance | All climates |
| egg color | tinted |
| Egg size | medium |
| Egg performance | medium |
| feathered feet | Not |
| scarcity | Ordinary parts |
| Native country | UK |
