One of my early favourite pullets from this season; good body length (almost horizontal without a cushion) with nice silver hackles. Her biggest fault is that her eye could be darker! There’s always something to work on.
I’ve also included a couple of group shots of the NGs.
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.
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.
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.
Today the Norfolk Grey is registered as a rare breed and monitored by
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)
Norfolk Grey