Dandarawi Chicken

     The Dandarawi is an ancient Chicken breed that was developed in the Egyptian city of Dandara, north of Luxor, and hence comes the name. This species has maintained a distinct identity for several centuries in upper Egypt. And as expected from a semi-feral breed, Dandarawis are small, alert and active foragers.

     The Dandarawi is an auto-sexing breed, meaning that males and females hatch in different colors. The hens hatch with dark spots on their heads and can be differentiated from the males when they are just one-day old. Dandarawi roosters are black with white hackle and saddle and some white on the body and wings when grown. The hens are Wheaten-looking, reddish-brown, or grey, with a small, backward facing crest. Dandarawi chickens have a double-bladed single comb, red earlobes and yellowish-white feet and legs. Some red feathers in the rooster’s body and white in the earlobes are common too.

     The Dandarawi is quite disease resistant, and can take heat stress up to 40 degrees C. They mature at 6.5 months of age and are fair layers of white shelled eggs (140 – 160 eggs per year), and the hens may go broody as well. The Dandarawi is quite rare outside of its country of origin but it has been introduced lately to many European countries.