What Breed Could It Be?

[ClareScifi]

I was chatting with an author who has chickens, and she told me she has heard there are full-sized Silver-Laced Sebright chickens. I have a Silver-Laced Sebright Bantam, and that is news to me. Silver-Laced Sebrights are true bantams. She said she thought they were beautiful but she had decided against getting the full-sized ones because she had read they do best free-ranging, and she doesn't have space for that. Can anyone think which breed of chicken she might be thinking of? Or has a full-sized Silver-Laced Sebright been developed recently? Or is there a Silver-Laced chicken of a different breed that requires free-ranging to prosper? Just curious as to what she might be thinking of?

 

[donrae]

There are full sized silver laced breeds, but none are Sebrights and none have to be free ranged. I believe most birds do better with free ranging, but IMO anyone telling you a specific breed needs to be free ranged has some educational deficiencies.

 

[chickencoop789]

Maybe she was thinking of a Silver Laced Wyandotte?

 

[ClareScifi]

I think you are rigt chickencoop789. I researched it and read that old-timey breeds like Barred Rocks & Wyandottes forage very well. I read that Wyandottes prefer free-ranging, although they don't require as much land as some larger breeds do. It is thought modern breeds may have the self-protection instinct bred right out of them and are thus unsuitable for free-ranging. Very interesting:

http://www.raising-happy-chickens.com/wyandotte-chickens.html

 

[ClareScifi]

On second thought, I'll bet she meant either Silver-Spangled or Silver-Penciled Hamburg. They come in Bantam form, and this article says they really do need to free-range:

Yes, I think she must have meant Silver-Spangled Hamburg: http://www.mypetchicken.com/chicken-breeds/Hamburg-B48.aspx

Chicken Breeds - Hamburg
www.mypetchicken.com
Chicken Breed Information - Hamburg - Hamburgs are a delightful breed known in E...ngland as the "Dutch Everyday Layers" or sometimes simply "Everlayers." Not only are they a beautiful breed to show, they're prolific layers of smallish white eggs, and they fare very well in cold weather. Hamburgs are f...See More

 

[ClareScifi]

I would bet a Silver-Penciled Hamburg would really appeal to a writer. LOL. I'll bet they are beautiful, too. Now I want some!

 

[chickencoop789]

That's probably what she meant. They are very beautiful birds

Standard Hamburgs are pretty small so I could only imagine how small a bantam Hamburg is