Ancona Chicken

     The Ancona is a breed of Chickens, that originated along the coast of Italy in a town that holds the same name. They are closely related to the Leghorn chicken breed, and at a time their black feathering led them being called ‘Black Leghorns’.

     Anconas are tough, hardy birds, that produce a large number of white eggs (an average of 220 per year, and the egg weighs 50 g or more). As other Mediterranean chicken breeds, the hens rarely go broody.

     The Ancona chicken comes in two varieties; the single-combed and the less common rose-combed. It has white earlobes, and a beetle green-black, or red plumage tipped with white. Anconas have also bright-yellow legs with some black mottling down the shanks. A bantam version is also available for this breed.