Silver Spangled Hamburg Chickens

Silver Spangled Hamburg Chickens are a breed of domestic chicken that is thought to have originated in Holland sometime before the current century. The breed was first called the Hamburger Chicken in the early 1840s because the best birds came from both Holland and Hamburg. Eleven different Hamburg color varieties are recognized in Germany and Holland, while the American standard of perfection recognizes six.

The Silver Spangled Hamburg is one of the most alert and active breeds of chicken, and some would say noisy. This variation is silvery-white with a black spangle, giving them a polka-dotted appearance.

Hamburg chickens have rose combs, white earlobes, and blue shanks and toes. They are excellent chickens when it comes to both beauty and utility. Their rose comb helps make them cold hardy. The Hamburg is a consistent layer of between 200 to 255, medium white eggs per year.

Silver Spangled Hamburgs are a small or medium-sized breed. Average Roosters weigh between 4 and 5.5 pounds, and hens weigh about 3.5 and 4 pounds. The hens seldom go broody, and chicks are silver-grey with parallel dark and light stripes on their backs.

Silver Spangled Hamburgs are high flyers and can jump fences and enclosures. Hens seem to prefer nesting in the understory of forest margins, or other vegetation and roosting in very high in trees. Silver Spangled Hamburgs prefer a free-range setting to confinement, and because of their alert, agile characteristics can evade predators easily. Due to their small size, Silver Spangled Hamburgers are economical to keep; they eat less than most breeds, and if given free-range will find a lot of their food themselves. They are available through multiple hatcheries in the United States and make a head-turning addition to the backyard flock.