Ancona

Purchased from Coastal. Do not recommend unless you like the looks. Contrary to the breed, my pullet went broody right away. One of the top hens in the flock and mean about it. Eats any eggs in the nest, unless she's broody.
If you have predators, know they'll stay safe. They can fly (figuratively). Eats the most feed out of everyone, also contrary to the breed.

I don't know how Anconas are supposed to act, but my hen is one of my favorites with her floppy comb, big white eggs, and motherly nature. (She loves chicks!)
I tried getting more as we had to put down her egg bound sister, but those first ones ultimately died, probably due to their free ranging nature.
Eventually I got two cockerels and two hens and I must say I am loving them.
The roosters are a bit flighty, keeping their respectful distance while the hens quite adorably sit by the larger one's feet and let him keep watch. The larger male has a beautiful comb and wattles and keeps an eye on everything. He may not lead the flock, but he is a beautiful boy. Those Anconas are always the first chickens out on the range in the morning, and compared to most breeds they will grow well range fed. They are twice the size of Crevecoeurs of the same age, and the hens are already nearly sexually mature.

I just love these birds

i have one Ancona pullet her name is Lucabelle and she can be a little difficult to catch sometimes but I still highly recommend this lovely hen

Anconas are good layers. They should not be kept as cuddly birds and should only be picked up if it wishes to be or you have to. They easily can run from predators or from you. Just thought I should share some information that I learned from my Anconas.

These girls area great white egg layers on the smaller size for eggs. Quite consistent layers. They are more noisy than my other chickens. If I don't throw chicken scratch into their coop they will roost in the trees above their coop. Not too safe as I do have predators around.

Anconas have to be the sweetest birds i know. In fact they were one of the first chickens i got.

They were a breeding pair; Cowboy and Sweetheart.

Let me tell you, if you want a rooster get a Ancona. Cowboy is the sweetest, gentlest rooster i have come across. Never once attacked, protects his girls too, however if another roosters comes along he cant exactly protect himself- hes too gentle, Being that he was bottom of the rooster pecking order.

He can get frightened easily, will run for miles actually. He gets along well with every other bird, and when theres a intruder he really does sound the alarm! He can be weary of humans however, so you have to be gentle and dont spook around them.

As for Sweetheart, bless her soul, she was the most sweetest and the most gentle hen out of all our flock. For a certain time she was top of the pecking order, dont exactly know how but she was. She was a good leader too. She was very gentle, sweet and curious. However she got spooked easily too.

She layed good small-ish white eggs, but soon stopped laying everyday, due to older age, but she tried to lay an egg everyday! Soon she stopped laying altogether for a while. Why? She was getting picked on by ALL the roosters in flock, too gentle to fight back, was now the bottom of the pecking order, refused to mate with anyone but Cowboy.

She was on the run from everyone for a period of time, and i would see Cowboy just dying to get to her.

Rest in Peace Sweetheart, she gave up her final battle when heatstroke got the better of her.

If put into Pairs Anconas seem to bond forever, Cowboy still sometimes trys to find where his mate went.

The Ancona is a vary Pretty bird but could be difficult to show, because the spots may not be Constantine and may have black scales on there legs (which is normal in the breed). My Anconas Fern and Stinker (long story) are good foragers with corky personalities. Both of them are flighty and get spooked with any sudden movements.





Left Stinker, Right Fern when they where chicks I always joked that
Stinker looked so manly with his mascara under his eye.

I have an Ancona bird, and she is actually pretty sweet, and is a good egg-producer. Although she is all pros in the summer, during a long period in the winter, she doesn't produce eggs very often. She is also quite flighty if we let her wings grow out, and a bit skiddish at times. But she really is a good bird. She is higher on the pecking order, which helps with her winter egg production once in a while.

If you are looking for birds to add to your flock, I recommend the Ancona.

I don't know what made mine become friendly but she all of a sudden was friendly I think it may have been because she went blind in one of her eyes due to an injury or the fact that she lays eggs now she became blind and friendly and started to lay just in one week so I don't know what made her be like this

Good looking white egg producers, very easy keepers, and great flock members, not agressive or bossy with other chickens, but isn't meek either.

I have this love-hate relationship with my Ancona mix Duchess.

On one hand, she's a decent layer, giving large white eggs every other day. She's brave and quick to charge animals that come near the fence (not people though). She's got beautiful plumage and loves to cluck your ears off.

On the other hand, she likes to fight the other hens and was VERY flighty. We had to not only cover the entire 400 sq ft run but also had to clip her wings just to get her to stop flying over the fence to roost on the neighbor's hedge.

So my recommendation? As soon as you get one, clip the wings. Keep her quarantined for longer than usual to get her used to the other flock members and prevent her from attacking them. I don't regret ol' Duchess, but if I had done these things first then I think I would have enjoyed her being around more.

I have 2 Ancona hens and they are beautiful and friendly. They are only 16 weeks old and I am awaiting eggs! They get along beautifully with a mixed flock of many breeds. One of the Anconas was and still is the leader of all the hens. She was the first to climb up my arm at a mere week old - she really enjoyed hanging out on me. She taught her sister and the others to stop by my lap and get some petting. She is not mean to the others, but definitely is the leader thus far. She keeps an eye out and scolds others for getting out of line.

they will make BEAUTIFUL mix breed babies!

I like these chickens pretty well, but my rooster has become very aggressive towards females. I'm a pretty "manly" woman and he still come at me sometimes. I don't trust him to be ranging if we have company. Good supply of eggs from the hen though and such a cute comb!

They are perticulerly good for people who want to free range their birds but are plagued by predators,they are alert and active foragers.

i only have the rooster, and he is very mean.i would not get the rooster if i were u. but he is one of the most handsome roosters i have ever seen. he was in his molting season

I have just one Ancona now that started laying several weeks ago. As of now her eggs are still quite small. Even smaller than my Leghorn's eggs who started laying just a couple weeks ago. That being said she lays everyday now. She is a small bodied bird like many Mediterranean breeds which is nice since their feed intake is much smaller than my heavier breeds. Also, like many Mediterranean breeds she is a good flyer. Somewhat flighty when startled, but that isn't really a problem for me. Of course, she doesn't like being held, but she has never pecked or fought against me once I grab her. I love her large comb and I hope it gets even bigger and flops over, but that might be just me, . This could cause problems when it gets cold out, which is inevitable in Wisconsin. She started laying at 21 weeks approx. which I was slightly disappointed with since I thought these were early laying breeds, but it would be my luck to get one who takes her time. Oh well, to each its own. I would suggest this breed to others for both its usefulness as a layer and the beautiful looks.

I did have an Ancona roo that I got rid of at 14 weeks. He started crowing at 13 wks and neighbors started to notice. I don't he would have made a good flock rooster though. Too shy and selfish.





Here she is a few weeks before laying. Her comb is much bigger and redder now

our girl has pretty tail feathers that stand up she is kind but crazy.

All of my birds love their treats. My Ancona knows where the treats are and goes to them and calls for me to get them out for her. She is friendly, allows anyone to pick her up and hug her. She does not fight handling. She is very docile and permissive. I know that many people say this breed is flighty and she surely does fly quite a bit higher than the other birds like to. I have heard them described as the "Acrobat of chickens" she is nimble and agile. Much more so than my other flying footballs. She doesn't try to escape or fly at anyone. I only notice that she likes to roost high and she likes to be up so she can see. I think it's cute. She does have a very specific call that she makes. This is very particular to her and I can tell she is making the noise. It sounds kind of scratchy and demanding, but I think it is cute. I'll put up with anything from her. I guess that makes me a crazy chicken lady, but my fiance really really adores her too. She is a pretty small bodied bird and not very tall. She is the 2nd smallest next to the Silkie/ Cochen mutt. We really like her. This breed deserves more stars!!