Chicken Breed Focus - Minorca

[Bridget B]

I got three by accident when I got my first chickens 7 mos. ago. I thought I was buying Australorps but in time I realized what they were. They are really nice birds, a bit flighty and skittish at first but with time and beginning to lay, they have become very friendly. The eggs are still small but I can see how they might be larger in the future.

 

[Gallinarium]

I ordered two with my batch of fifteen from McMurray last spring, a black and a buff, to be named Spade and Buffy.
At about two weeks to eight weeks they were among the most skittish of the group, but they started to warm up when I worked with them as they got older.
Spade unfortunately never made it to laying age, she got decapitated through the wire in the run by a raccoon. Not a fun thing to find.
Buffy has successfully made it to laying age. Her eggs are still pullet-tiny, but they are a bit larger than the other pullets', (except for my red sex-link Sally's big and beautiful eggs.) She's a fairly good layer so far, and the second most predator-aware, surpassed only by Val the rose-comb Brown Leghorn.

Buffy at three days old:

Spade at three days old. Note the white markings around her eye that earned her the baby name "Spectacles Spadey." As she grew up, her nickname was changed to "Spectacle Spadey," to emphasize how much she was a show-off.

Spade as a pullet:

Buffy a couple days ago:

Her comb is still really small since they don't seem to grow much in the winter. Either that or they gave me a mutant Buff Orpington.

 

[Duhonmommie]

I have 4 Black Minorca's. Here's a few. My ancestors are from Minorca, so that is honestly the reason I got them. My dh just rolled his eyes.

Can't wait to see them grow!

 

[Meri Maura]

I picked out what I thought were Buff Orpingtons from a random pullet assortment and later found that they were Buff Minorcas. Now I'm wondering if they're BANTAM buff minorcas....Are they?

 

[Meri Maura]

I got three by accident when I got my first chickens 7 mos. ago. I thought I was buying Australorps but in time I realized what they were. They are really nice birds, a bit flighty and skittish at first but with time and beginning to lay, they have become very friendly. The eggs are still small but I can see how they might be larger in the future.

Haha I got three Buffs by accident too...(which is fine since I'm basically a collector)

 

[Grandmas Coop]

I have six Minorca hens. I have a white leghorn hen and when one of the Minorca's is next to her, they look like negative images of each other! I've enjoyed my hens and have had nothing but good experiences with them. Egg production is great, and they seem to get along well with all the members of the flock.

I know this is an older post- BUT-- I was thinking as I read this "Breed Focus" They Much like a Leghorn it sounds like.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Putting rose-comb Black Minorcas on my Wish List.

 

[Bridget B]

Update on the Black Minorca's. They have really one me over on their dependability. Every day they lay a beautiful white egg. The eggs keep getting bigger and now are approaching the size of the standard supermarket large egg. It really is amazing that a slightly long, skinny looking chicken can lay such a big egg. I now think those girls are quite beautiful.