Hamburg chicken
A Silver-Spangled Hamburg cock
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| Conservation status | Watch |
|---|---|
| Other names | |
| Country of origin |
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| Standard | NHDB (in Dutch) |
| Use | eggs |
| Traits | |
| Weight |
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| Skin color | White |
| Egg color | White |
| Comb type | Rose |
| Classification | |
| APA | Continental |
| EE | yes |
| PCGB | Soft feather: light |
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The Hamburg, Dutch: Hollands hoen, German: Hamburger, is a breed of chicken which is thought to have originated Holland sometime prior to the fourteenth century. The name may be spelt Hamburgh in the United Kingdom and in Australia.
The Hamburg is a small or medium-sized breed. Cocks weigh 2–2.5 kg and hens about 1.6–1.8 kg, with slender legs and a neat rose comb. Ring size is 16 mm for cocks and 15 mm for hens. Eleven different colour varieties are recognised in Germany and Holland, including Silver Spangled, Golden Spangled, Golden Pencilled, Citron Pencilled, Silver Pencilled, White, Black and Citron Spangled; six of these are included in the American standard of perfection. Pencilled breeds are smallest and self-coloured birds are largest. There are also Bantam Hamburgs.
Hamburgs mature quickly and are considered good egg producers. Eggs weigh about 50 g, with glossy, white shells.
Lalia Phipps Boone argued in 1949 that Chauntecleer and Pertelote, the chickens in Chaucer's "Nun's Priest's Tale," are Golden Spangled Hamburgs.
L. Frank Baum was keen on Hamburgs: he started a monthly trade journal, Hamburgs, in 1880; his first book, published in 1886, was The Book of the Hamburgs: A Brief Treatise upon the Mating, Rearing, and Management of the Different Varieties of Hamburgs.
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