Hamburg chicken

The Hamburg, Dutch: Hollands hoen, German: Hamburger, is a Dutch breed of chicken The name may be spelled Hamburgh in the United Kingdom and in Australia.^[8]

Hamburg

A silver-spangled cock
A blue pullet
Conservation status	FAO (2007): not at risk[1]: 152  DAD-IS (2023): not at risk[2]
Other names	Dutch: Hollandse Hoen German: Hamburger Hamburgh
Country of origin	Holland United Kingdom
Standard	NHDB (in Dutch)
Traits
Weight	Male: Standard: 2–2.5 kg[3] Bantam: 680–790 g[4]: 131  Female: Standard: 1.6–1.8 kg[3] Bantam: 620–740 g[4]: 131
Skin colour	white
Egg colour	white
Comb type	rose
Classification
APA	continental[5]
EE	yes[6]
PCGB	soft feather: light[7]
Chicken Gallus gallus domesticus

History

The history and origins of the Hamburgh are not known.^[4]: 127 The gold-pencilled and silver-pencilled colour varieties appear to be of Dutch origin, and show some similarity to the Assendelfter.^[9]: 72 Other varieties appear to have developed in the United Kingdom, particuarly in the counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire.^[9]: 72

Characteristics

The Hamburg is a small or medium-sized breed. For most colour varieties, cocks weigh 2–2.5 kg and hens about 1.6–1.8 kg^[3] or 1.5–2 kg;^[10] weights for the pencilled varieties are lower, at about 1.5–1.7 kg and 1.2–1.4 kg respectively.^[3]. Weights for bantams are roughly 700–1000 g for cocks and 600–800 g for hens.^{[4]: 131 [11]}

The standard ring sizes are 16 mm for cocks and 15 mm for hens, but for the pencilled variants are 15 mm and 13 mm respectively.^[3]

Five different colour varieties are recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain: silver-spangled, gold-spangled, silver-pencilled, gold-pencilled and black.^[4]: 128 The same five are included in the American Standard of Perfection, with the addition of the white.^[5] The Entente Européenne recognises these six and also the blue;^[6] a further five are listed but not recognised: citron-pencilled, gold-white-pencilled, gold-blue-pencilled, cuckoo and red.^[6]

Use

The Hamburgh is bred principally for exhibition. Hens lay approximately 120 or 170 white eggs per year, with an average weight of some 50 or 56 g;^{[3]: 39 [10]} bantam hens lay some 130 or 140 eggs weighing about 30 or 35 g.^{[3][11]: 39}