Norfolk Grey 10 week old pullets

Description

The Norfolk Grey has had a very chequered career since it’s creation by Fred Myhill near Norwich between 1910 and 1912. Myhill was on the point of registering the breed when he was called up to fight in France in 1914. On his return he found that all his breeding development had been ruined as his birds had been allowed to roam and had been breeding with the local cockerels. Starting from scratch, by 1920 he had a working flock of hens breeding true and entered some birds at the Dairy Show.

Unfortunately he decided to call them Black Marias, the slang name of a German artillery gun that emitted a lot of black smoke, and when that didn’t catch on he re-named them Norfolk Grey. Although the  Norfolk Grey had a strong following amongst local farmers, it was largely confined to Norfolk, and after Myhill’s death in the late 1950s the breed all but became extinct. In the 1980’s Roland Axman, a rare breed enthusiast from Norfolk helped to revive the breed’s fortunes and got the Norfolk Grey registered on the Rare Poultry Society list.

The Norfolk Grey is a much under-rated hen that is hardy, friendly, and always seems totally unaffected by bad weather; it is one of the very best foragers and as a result is very cheap to keep, and ideally suited for anyone with limited experience of poultry keeping. As you can see from the photographs the Male is the more striking of the sexes, but both have an attractive beetle-green sheen on their black feathers. Their dark legs and dark eyes make them most attractive.

I have kept this breed now for several years and the only drawback is the shortage of other breeders and therefore a limited supply of fresh bloodlines. It is on the Rare Breeds list and I believe is a breed that must be preserved. The Norfolk Grey is a very consistant layer and is particularly productive in the winter. They lay around 220 eggs per year.