Colsterworth Rare Breed Poultry
Poultry breeder and animal lover Vivienne Cairns established Colsterworth Rare Breed Poultry in 2007. We stock over 150 different types of chicken, and offer fully grown birds, eggs for hatching, and a wide range of care products, accessories, and medication.
All our chickens are free range, fully wormed, and kept on a three acre open site to ensure a healthy lifestyle. Separated into their different breeds, they enjoy comforts such as wendy house accommodation, and the very best chicken feed.
"The best-coloured choice of available Orpingtons I have ever come across"
Bunny Guinness - Telegraph.co.uk
Chickens (Gallus domesticus) are domestic birds that cannot fly. There are over 150 different breeds of chicken. Each breed has distinct attributes and character, and is classified by The Poultry Club accordingly.
The physical traits used to distinguish chicken breeds are size, plumage colour, comb type, skin colour, number of toes, amount of feathering, earlobe colour, egg colour, and place of origin. They are also roughly divided by primary use, whether for eggs, meat, or ornamental purposes, with some considered to be dual-purpose.
Two sizes of chicken exist – large fowl and bantam. Both sizes can be found in many breeds, bantam versions being miniatures of the large. True bantams are those with no large counterpart and these breeds are generally used for ornamental purposes.
Bantams
True bantams are naturally small fowl with no large counterpart. They are ornamental or for exhibition rather than utility purposes and evolved in the early days of poultry breeding.
Breed examples include: SEBRIGHT, ROSECOMB, DUTCH, PEKIN, JAPANESE and BELGIAN
Large Fowl
Large fowl were developed for the table or egg production. The majority of large fowl breeds have an excellent temperament which makes them ideal for beginners or children.
Breed examples include: ORPINGTON, BRAHMA, RHODE ISLAND RED, LEGHORN, SILKIE and ARAUCANA