Thüringian Chickens

By: Tim Daniels
April 21, 2015
Updated: 3 years ago

No. of Eggs

 2.5/5

Easy to Keep?

 3.5/5

Uses: Exhibition and Rare Breed Conservation.
Origin: Germany.
Eggs: 140 -180 White per year.
Weight: Cock: 2 – 2.5 Kg. Hen: 1.5 – 2 Kg.
Bantam Cock: 700 g. Hen: 600 g.
Colours: Black, Chamois Spangled, Gold Spangled, Silver Spangled (Standardised UK) Buff, Blue, Cuckoo and White also exist in Germany.
Useful to Know: Active chickens that were once useful dual purpose fowl and now a very rare breed.
Photo: A silver spangked Thüringian male. Photo courtesy of Claire Scowcroft.

Thüringian chickens have been seen in the UK since early 2000 but was originally created in the Thüringen state in Germany with the first mention of the breed being as far back as the 1790’s.

Originally, the breed was known as the Pausbäcken (chubby chops) and was a dual purpose utility breed kept by small farms in the region. The Thüringian didn’t get its current German name of Thüringer Barthuhn (Thüringian Bearded) there until it was standardised in 1907. They are thought to be related to Dutch Owlbeards but there is some uncertainty about this. Photo Right: A rare black Thüringian, belonging to Wendy Shackel.

Photos

Chamoise Thuringian — Chamoise Thuringian. Best Thuringian at the Northampton Poultry Club Spring Show 2016. Owned by Imogen Anthony. Photo courtesy of Rupert Stephenson.

Cuckoo Thuringian — Cuckoo Thuringian – 1st in Class at the Northampton Poultry Club Spring Show 2016. Owned by Kirsty Anthony. Photo courtesy of Rupert Stephenson.

Black Thuringian Bantam — Black Thuringian Bantam owned by Wendy Shackel

Partridge Thuringian Bantam — Partridge Thuringian Bantam owned by Wendy Shackel

Partridge Thuringian Bantam — Head of a Partridge Thuringian Bantam owned by Wendy Shackel

Chamois Thuringian — Best Rare Trio – Chamois Thuringian Owned by Imogen Anthony

Chamois Thuringian Cock — Chamois Thuringian Cock owned by Imogen Anthony. Photo courtesy of Rupert Stephenson.

Books

The following books are available. Links take you to the Amazon or other sellers’ pages for the books.

Rare Poultry Breeds – D. Scrivener – P.73
British Poultry Standards – P.297 – 299

Breed Clubs

These are the breed clubs for Thuringian chickens:

UK: The Rare Poultry Society

Tim Daniels

Tim is the founder of the poultry keeper website and lives in Herefordshire, UK. He is passionate about poultry and keeps a range of different chickens, ducks, geese and quail.

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