North Holland Blue

The North Holland Blue, Dutch: Noord-Hollandse Blauwe or Noord-Hollandse Hoen, is a Dutch breed of domestic chicken originating in the province of North Holland. It is a heavy meat breed, and was created to supply the high demand for white chicken meat from the city of Amsterdam, particularly from the Jewish community in that city.^[4]

North Holland Blue

North Holland hen
Other names	Dutch: Noord-Hollandse Blauwe Dutch: Noord-Hollandse Hoen
Country of origin	Netherlands
Standard	NHDB (Holland, in Dutch) NHDB, bantam
Use	meat
Traits
Weight	Male: Standard: 3.5–4.0 kg[1] Bantam: 1000 g[2] Female: Standard: 2.75–3.25 kg[1] Bantam: 900 g[2]
Comb type	single
Classification
PCGB	rare soft feather: heavy[3]
Chicken Gallus gallus domesticus

History

The North Holland Blue was created in the area around Purmerend in about 1900 to supply the city of Amsterdam with white chicken-meat. It derives from the Belgian Malines.^[5] Malines birds had been imported for the purpose but did not do well in the poor conditions of North Holland. They were therefore crossed with local chickens.^[4]

A breed standard was agreed in 1934 by the Noord-Hollandse Blauwenclub van Nederland, a breeders' association, and in 1950 was adopted with minor changes by the Nederlandse Hoender en Dwerghoender Bond, the national association of poultry breeders.^[6]

In the years after the Second World War the North Holland Blue was supplanted as a commercial meat breed by faster-growing imported American breeds. The last large North Holland Blue farm closed in 1977.^[4]

A bantam version was also created in the Netherlands, but was first shown in Germany.^[5] The North Holland Blue is recognised in eight European countries.^[7]

Characteristics

The North Holland Blue has only one colour, Cuckoo.^[7] It has a quiet, docile temperament, and lays 180–240 eggs per year. In the Netherlands and New Zealand it is clean-legged; British breed standards call for lightly feathered legs.^[8]