Scots Grey Chicken

Scots Grey chicken is a very old breed. It is a dual purpose chicken originating in Scotland. Scots Grey chicken has been bred for more than two hundred years in it's native area.

Until about 1930 the breed was popular in Scotland and was formerly known as the Scotch Grey. It has also been known over the years under different names such as Scotch Grey, Chick Marley or Shepherd's Plaid. Which has made it difficult to trace its precise history.

Although the name is Scots Grey chicken, but it is not grey at all. Rather it is black and white striped with metallic iridescence also called Cuckoo or Barred in the poultry world. It is on the "Native Poultry Breeds at Risk" list of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.

It is now a rare breed and mainly bred for exhibition purposes. There is a bantam variety of this chicken breed. Review characteristics, behavior and full breed profile of this chicken breed below.

Characteristics of Scots Grey Chicken

Scots Grey chicken has similar foundations to the Scots Dumpy chicken. But their leg length is an easily spotted difference. Scots Dumpy has very short legs and Scots Grey chickens have long legs.

scots grey, scots grey chicken, scots grey chickens, scots grey hens, scots grey roosters, scots grey chicks, scots grey chicken breed, scots grey chicken eggs, scots grey chicken color, scots grey chicken eggs color, scots grey chicken facts, scots grey chicken info, scots grey chicken characteristics, scots grey chicken behavior, scots grey chicken temperament

It is a tall and upright breed. Their beak and shanks are white in color, sometimes marked with black. They have single bright red colored comb. Their face, earlobes and wattles are of bright red colored.

The plumage of this chicken breed is barred. The ground color is steel-grey, and the barring is black with a metallic sheen. Although both roosters and hens are closely similar (apart from secondary characteristics). The markings are smaller in roosters than in hens.

Standard hens weight about 2.25 kg and roosters about 3.2 kg. And the bantam roosters weight about 620-680 grams and hens about 510-570 grams. Their skin color is white. Photo from Wikipedia.

Behavior/Temperament

Scots Grey chicken is a good dual purpose breed, which is kept for both eggs and meat production. It is a very hardy breed and great foragers. They do well under free range conditions and require plenty of space.

The breed may develop destructive habits when confined. They do prefer to roost in trees. They are known for their hardiness and their ability to thrive in any climate conditions.

The hens lay large eggs compared to their body size. Scots Grey chicks grow well and mature quickly. The breed is also good for meat production, and its flesh is reported to be extremely tasty. Hens lay whitish/cream colored eggs, and are usually non-sitter.

However, Scots Grey chicken is a vigorous breed and it is a good choice for small farmers as a dual purpose chicken. Review full breed profile of Scots Grey chicken in the chart below.

Breed Name	Scots Grey
Other Name	Scotch Grey, Chick Marley or Shepherd's Plaid
Breed Purpose	Dual Purpose (Meat & Eggs)
Breed Temperament	Calm, Friendly, Quiet, Easily Handled
Breed Size	Large
Broodiness	Seldom
Comb	Single
Climate Tolerance	All Climates
Egg Color	Whitish/Cream
Egg Size	Large
Egg Productivity	Medium
Feathered Legs	No
Rarity	Rare (They are on the "Native Poultry Breeds at Risk" list of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust)
Varieties	There is only one color and pattern in the Scots Grey and that is 'Barred'.
Country of Origin	United Kingdom

Comments

Murray Grey Cattle

The Murray Grey cattle are a breed of beef cattle from Australia. It was developed in the upper Murray River valley on the New South Wales. The breed was developed in 1905 from an initial chance mating of a black Aberdeen Angus bull and a roan Shorthorn cow during the Federation drought. From these matings the resulting thirteen dun-grey calves were kept as curiosities. And then Peter and Ena Sutherland bred them on the Thologolong property along the Murray River in New South Wales. Murray Grey cattle grew faster and were good converters of feed and produced quality carcases. These are the reasons this animals become very popular after their development. And local farmers became interested soon in these animals and began breeding them. The first large scale commercial farms were established in the 1940s. Today the breed is available in many countries. Both live Murray Grey cattle and embryos have been exported to many countries such as Canada, South America, New Ze...

Sorting Cattle

Sorting cattle is important if you have a large number of animals. For better management you will need to separate the animals into different groups depending on their age, size, gender or condition score. If some cattle of your herd need to be examined by a veterinarian or confined due to injury or illness, then separation may also need to be done. Sorting is also needed for separating the calves that need to be weaned from their mothers. And separating the bulls is also necessary after they have done their duty with breeding cows. Sorting Cattle Sorting cattle is not actually a difficult task. It can be done easily if you understand stockmanship principles that take advantage of bovine psychology and behavior. However, here we are describing more about the ways of sorting cattle. Sorting From a Squeeze Chute In this system you can move your cattle through a working corral into a chute system into the squeeze. In this system you can check and process animals f...

Andalusian Black Cattle Farming

Andalusian Black cattle farming is not too popular, even in it's native area. It is a relatively rare breed which is valued for meat production. But today, the breed is listed as 'endangered', and total number of the breed is very less. The Andalusian Black cattle is a taurine cattle breed, and it was originated in west Andalusia, Spain. It is also known by some other names such as Negra de las Campiñas, Negra Campiñesa and Spanish: Negra Andaluza. The Andalusian Black cattle is actually a beef cattle breed which is raised primarily for meat production purpose. The breed is found in two main areas of west Andalusia (from Cordova to the foothills of the Sierra Morena), and in the provinces of Seville, Cádiz and Huelva. Today, total population of the Andalusian Black cattle breed is very less. And there were about 800 purebred cattle in the year of 2007. Total number of this breed decreased mainly for crossbreeding with other local cattle breeds. Other reason...

Belted Galloway Cattle Farming

Belted Galloway cattle farming is popular, especially in it's native area. It is a beef cattle breed and raised mainly for meat production purpose. The breed is also known by some other names such as Beltie, Oreo Cow and Panda Cow. The Belted Galloway cattle breed was originated from Galloway in the west side of Southern Scotland. It is a heritage breed, and is well adapted to living on the poor upland pastures and wildswept moorlands of the region. Exact origins of the breed are unclear. But it is often surmised that the white belt of the breed may be a result of cross breeding with the Dutch Lakenvelder belted cattle. And the breed is named so mainly because of the belt. An association for the breed named the Belted Galloway Association was formed in 1921 in Scotland. And the name of the association was changed to Belted Galloway Society in the year of 1951. The association keeps and records pedigrees for Belted Galloways and oversees the registration of White and Re...

Cleaning A Cow

Cleaning a cow in the proper way can keep the animal look and feel fresh. Cleaning also help to prevent external parasites. You may also need to clean your cow to show it off at your local county fair or other occasions. And you need to clean your cows more often especially if you have dairy cows. You can integrate a spraying system for cleaning a cow once a day or so. Along with cleaning the body, you should also provide a footbath for better health of the cow's hooves. However, here we are describing more about the process of cleaning a cow. Sprinkler System Add Sprinkler in a Pre-milking Wash Pen You can construct a pre-milking wash pen with sprinklers for cleaning multiple cows. In this system, install sprinklers all along the pen you hold the cows in before milking. Using concrete for the floor will be good. It will help to keep the floor dry quickly and you will not have a constantly muddy area. You should spray sprinklers both up and down to wash the cows th...

Agerolese Cattle Farming

Agerolese cattle farming is not common, even in it's native area. It is a dairy cattle breed which is raised mainly for milk production purpose in it's native area. It is a pretty rare breed and not available outside it's native area. The Agerolese cattle is actually from the area of Agerola, in Campania in southern Italy. It was developed from cross-breeding of indigenous Podolica cattle with Bruna Italiana, Italian Holstein-Friesian and Jersey cattle. The breed is particularly associated with the Sorrento Peninsula and Monti Lattari. The Agerolese cattle is one of the 16 minor Italian cattle breeds of limited diffusion recognized and protected by the Ministero delle Politiche Agricole Alimentari e Forestali, the Italian ministry of agriculture. There were a total of 200 animals available according to a census completed on 1 January 2002. And the conservation status of the Agerolese cattle breed was reported by the FAO as 'endangered-maintained' in 200...

Ankole-Watusi Cattle Farming

Ankole-Watusi cattle farming is pretty popular, especially in it's native area. It is a multi-purpose breed of domestic cattle which is raised and valued for show, draught, meat and milk production purpose. The Ankole-Watusi cattle is a landrace breed, a type of Sanga cattle and originally native to East Africa. It is also known as Ankole Longhorn, and also sometimes known simply as Ankole or Watusi. Ankole-Watusi cattle is actually an ancient breed, and ancient rock paintings and depictions of these animals have been observed in the Sahara region and in the Egyptian arts and pyramid walls. The Sanga breed has spread to the Sudan, Uganda, Kenya and some other parts of Eastern Africa, becoming the base stock of the indigenous African cattle populations. It has most of the usual Zebu characteristics such as the pendulous dewlap and sheath, hump of variable size and the upturned horns. The Ankole-Watusi cattle have played a very important role in the lives of various ...

Search This Blog