Castellana Negra Chicken

     The Castellana Negra is a breed of Chickens of Mediterranean-type from Spain. It’s one of the oldest strains of poultry in Europe, with historic records date back to the 15^th century. The Castellana Negra is also believed to be the ancestor of many European black breeds such as; Minorcas and Black Spanish chicken breeds.

     Castellanas are small to medium-sized semi-wild chickens, with excellent foraging abilities. They are dynamic, vigorous and flighty chicken breed, that can avoid predators too. Not only that, but they also are lively, rustic and disease-resistant birds.

     Castellana Negras have entirely black plumage, with a metallic greenish sheen. They have large single combs, white earlobes, and slate-blue legs. Negra hens lay plenty of white eggs (220 – 225 eggs per year of weight 60 g per each), but they rarely go broody.

     Despite having decent laying abilities, Castellana’s numbers decreased after the introduction of white Leghorns. White Leghorn are prolific layers themselves of large white eggs. It became even worse for the Castellana after the invasion of commercial hybrid layer chickens such as Sex-Links. Fortunately, great efforts are being done now, to protect this breed from extinction and restore its numbers. The Castellana Negra still has a lot of fans across Europe, that are motivated for this breed.