2 Naked Neck chicks, aren't they adorable?

'Chicken Breeds-Why Naked Neck's are perfect for your backyard flock'

Naked Neck's or Turken's as they are called are the perfect addition to any backyard flock, they are a conversation starter, lay beautiful eggs for your breakfast, are easy to dress, they cost less to manage and look great on your table for dinner.

Now some people think they are the ugliest bird around, and some people think that they are a cross between a chicken and a turkey. Impossible. And some people like me know that they are a beautiful addition to any farm.

The Naked Neck was believed to be first found in the early 1800's in Malaysia, the breed we see in North America was developed in Europe, and they called the breed Transylvanian Naked Necks. The gene that produces the Naked Neck trait is called "Na" and if a Naked Neck is bred to any other breed of chicken that gene will be dominant. The APA admitted them in 1965 in Red, White, Buff and Black.

Now why I think they are perfect for your farm. Number one they are as cute and sweet as they can be. But they have 20 to 60% less feathers. What does this mean exactly? It means they have a better feed to egg conversion. They require less feed to make your breakfast than other breeds. And why you may ask? Because so much feed is used to produce feathers. And they are egg laying machines, laying large tan eggs. They are suppose to lay around a 180 eggs a year but mine lay 300 a year without artificial light.




I keep all my breeding stock in open heavy duty wire cages, they all have a half roof on them for shade and to protect them from the rain, at their roost they have a strip of tarp for a wind and or sun break, I live in Texas, so with that being said and all that I have read Naked Necks can withstand high temperatures, it will be 117 in the shade here and very cold tempatures, with wind chills recorded below zero without any problems. And I have yet to lose a Naked Neck to the weather. But I think one of the most fascinating facts about the Naked Neck's are that a field trial was performed from the American Agricultural Experiment Station from 1900 to the 1930's and the results showed that the Naked Necks were highly immune to most chicken diseases from that time. I have owned Turken's for many years and I have never had one get sick on me, I also live in Texas and I have never lost one to the heat of the summer.

They will free range with out any problems, they are not flighty, good foragers and they will stay in a breeder pen without a ruckus. They will go broody if you let them, and are very good Mother's.

Personally I think they are the best dual purpose bird around. The rooster's will weigh 8.5 pounds and the hen's 6.5 pounds. They have less feather's so they are so much easier to dress, and they dont have feather follicles under the skin where the have no feather's. They have a beautiful carcass.



This a picture of my Brood rooster. He is my favorite, as you can see he has no feathers or pin feathers on his neck. They should have a medium sized single comb with 5 points, medium size wattles and medium size earlobes all in bright red.



This is one of the brood hen's. She also has no feathers on her neck. That is the only bird's that I personally breed from. They have to have a complete naked neck or have a very small bow tie. Which is 2 feathers coming out of each side and it looks just like a tie. The hen should have the same comb, wattles and earlobes as the male.

If you have never owned a Naked Neck, why don't you try a couple for your backyard flock. I think you will be amazed at how nice of a bird they are. And you will fall in love with their beauty just like I have.