Groninger Meeuwe (Groninger Gull)

Groninger Meeuwe (Groninger Gull)

Description

The Groninger Meeuwe is an old Dutch domestic chicken breed with a slender, elegant build and a loosely carried tail. Its plumage is silver or gold with fine dark speckling that recalls the markings of a gull, which gives the breed its name. Cocks weigh around 2.5 kg and hens about 1.8 kg, and both sexes carry a single upright comb, white earlobes and slate-grey legs.

Habitat

This is a domestic breed rather than a wild animal. It was developed in the late 18th century in the northern Dutch province of Groningen, from which it takes its name, and was long kept as a hardy farmyard fowl. Today it is bred mainly for eggs and for exhibition, and is regarded as part of the Netherlands' cultural heritage.

Diet

An omnivorous ground-forager, the Groninger Meeuwe is fed grain mixes and seeds for poultry along with green plant matter, and it readily supplements this by scratching for insects and other small invertebrates.

Reproduction

Hens are productive layers, giving roughly 180 to 200 white to pale-brown eggs a year. The breed has a weak brooding instinct and rarely goes broody, so eggs are usually hatched in an incubator.

Lifespan

With good care these chickens typically live around 6 to 8 years.

Did you know?

The breed was once on the brink of extinction and survived the 20th century only thanks to a handful of dedicated Dutch breeders, who saved it as a genetically valuable rare breed.