Are Norfolk Greys worthwhile keeping and rearing?

Norfolk Greys make excellent table birds which develop well as the young fatten up quickly and the long deep breast provides plenty of white meat. As well as this, Norfolk Grey make good laying birds – laying over 200 eggs per year. The breed is a steady
and hardy breed meaning that they often tend to lay throughout the winter months.

Identifying faults

I want to try to focus on the identification of obvious faults when breeding or buying Norfolk Greys and I’ve tried to include photos where they are available to act as a visual guide.

Males should have a clean breast with no silver flecks or lacing as shown on the photo. The breast should be full and rounded indicating good table qualities. Some silver lacing is acceptable on the females.

A male with a laced or shafty breast as shown here, should only be mated with a female with very poor hackle colouring, otherwise leave him out of the breeding pen.

Select females with reasonably long and flat backs (the carriage should be almost horizontal) and fairly tight feathering around the body.

The feathering on this hen is far too soft especially round the thighs and cushion (base of tail and back). The feathering should be harder giving a definite shape to the body.

The brown speckling on this young growers feathers is called Mossing.   When the juvenile feathers moulted-out they were replaced by solid black feathers that had an amazing beetle green sheen to them. Mossing on  adult birds feathers is classified as a fault.

A good male comb should be straight and have around 5 serrations. A dark eye is another important requirement as are red ear lobes.

This male has a flyaway comb and a crease in his wattle.  Both of these defects are faults but can be corrected in the breeding pen mating him with a hen that has a good close comb and smooth round wattles.

The soles of the feet should be white, black pigment on the soles is fine as long as there is white skin also showing. Any sign of yellow is a fault and a sign of poor breeding, recent cross breeding can justifiably be suspected.

The Eyes should be as dark brown as possible. Light or orange eyes are a fault.  They can be corrected in the breeding pen by mating with a dark eyed  mate, then selecting progency that have the darkest coloured eyes

Light eye colour

Ideal eye colour (care should be when breeding 2 dark eyed Norfolk Greys together; sometimes the offspring might have a gypsy face).   

The height or angle of the male’s tail is not explicitly mentioned in the breed standard, but Dr Joseph Batty suggest in his book that the tail should be between 40-45 degrees. Historical photographic evidence from 1927 suggests that the carriage should be almost horizontal with a long and flat back with fairly tight feathering around the body.

Gallery of Norfolk Greys

KEY FACTS:

Origin: Norfolk

Sizes: Large and bantam (bantam extremely rare)

Classification: Rare Soft Feather heavy

KEY CHARACTERISTICS:

• The body should be rather long, broad at shoulders. Full, round breast carried upwards. Large wings well tucked up. Well feathered tail.

• Skull should be fine. Beak short and well curved. Dark eyes large and bold. Comb single, upright, of medium size, well serrated and with a firm base. Face smooth and fine. Ear-lobes small and oval. Wattles long and fine. The neck of medium length, abundantly covered by hackle.

• The neck, back, saddle, shoulder coverts and wing bars of the male should be silver-white; hackles with black striping. Free from smuttiness. Remainder a solid black.

• The hackle of the female similar to that of the male. Remainder black. The throat very delicately laced with silver (about 5 cm (2 in.) only).

• In both sexes the beak should be horn. Comb, face, ear-lobes and wattles red. Legs and feet black or slate-black, the former preferred.

• The Plumage should be close.

BREED HISTORY

As the name suggests, the Norfolk Grey was created in Norfolk by Mr Fred Myhill of Wymondham sometime between 1910-1912. The breed was initially called Black Marias, but the spelling was later changed to Marea (Myhill said that the name he gave his new breed originated from the First World War name of German shells which were often called ‘Black Marias’ in the early days). Myhill’s vision was to develop a dual purpose breed that would be hardy and a robust producer of both eggs and meat.
It isn’t entirely clear which breeds were used to develop the Norfolk Grey, but there is certainly some Game influence and it is likely that the Leghorn played a part. Following Myhill’s return from fighting in the First World War in 1918, he faced the prospect of having to start his breeding project virtually from scratch because his birds had been allowed to breed indiscriminately during his four-year absence fighting in France. This he did and he re-established a breeding flock and he went public with the breed. 
The initial name and the variant did not appeal to the public and around 1924, Myhill decided that a re-think of the name of necessary and he came up with the more appealing ‘Norfolk Grey’.
The Norfolk Grey was subsequently registered with the PCGB in 1925.
Without wanting to dwell on the history of the breed too much, the status of the breed today might have been better if the early publicity of the breed had been better; Thomas Leyson a longtime supporter of the breed in the 1920s until 1932 warned breeders in his final piece for the 1931 Feathered World Yearbook “This variety had a splendid chance of taking its place as a good all round British general purpose fowl. Unfortunately, breeders neglected the advertising side, which in any breed old or new is quickly fatal”.
The name change did for a time increase the breeds popularity, but gradually their numbers decreased and by the 1960’s they were thought to be extinct. In 1973, the Reverend Andrew Bowden and his wife found a trio of these birds at a farm they were visiting near Banbury and the breed was saved. Unfortunately by the 1980’s Norfolk Greys were seldom seen until Mr Roland Axman from Norfolk saw a trio at the Malpas poultry show in Staffordshire. This trio of birds had been bred by the Reverend Bowden and their current owner sold them to Mr Axman, who still shows them today.

Today the Norfolk Grey is registered as a rare breed and monitored by

The Rare Poultry Society. 

BREED STANDARD

NORFOLK GREY

LARGE FOWL

Origin: Great Britain

Classification: Heavy: Rare

Egg colour: Tinted

The Norfolk Grey was first introduced by Mr Myhill of Norwich under the ugly name of Black Marias. They were first shown at the 1920 Dairy Show and were mainly the result of a cross breed between silver birchen Game and duckwing Leghorns. They appear regularly at shows and are plentiful in their county of origin.

General characteristics:

Male

Carriage: Fairly upright and very active.

Type: Body rather long, broad at shoulders. Full, round breast carried upwards. Large wings well tucked up. Well feathered tail.

Head: Skull fine. Beak short and well curved. Eyes large and bold. Comb single, upright, of medium size, well serrated and with a firm base. Face smooth and fi ne. Ear-lobes small and oval. Wattles long and fine.

Neck: Of medium length, abundantly covered with hackle.

Legs and feet: Fairly short and set well back. Shanks free from feathers. Toes, four, well spread.

Plumage: Close.

Female

The general characteristics are similar to those of the male, allowing for the natural sexual differences.

Colour

Male plumage: Neck, back, saddle, shoulder coverts and wing bars silver-white, the hackles with black striping, free from smuttiness. Remainder a solid black.

Female plumage: Hackle similar to that of the male. Remainder black, the throat very delicately laced with silver (about 5 cm (2 in.) only).

In both sexes: Beak horn. Eyes dark. Comb, face, ear-lobes and wattles red. Legs and feet black or slate-black, the former preferred.

Weights

Male 3.20–3.60 kg (7–8 lb)

Female 2.25–2.70 kg (5–6 lb)

Serious defects

White in lobes. Comb other than single or obstructing the sight. Legs other than black or slate-black. Feathers on shanks or feet. Lacing or shaftiness on back, breast, or wings of females.

Bantam Norfolk Grey bantams should follow exactly the large fowl standard.

Weights Male 900 g (32 oz) Female 680 g (24 oz)