The Ancona is a hardy Italian breed — a cousin of the Leghorn — named for the Adriatic city, though much of its modern type was fixed in Victorian Britain. Its beetle-green-black plumage flecked with white ('mottled,' about one feather in five tipped white) is unmistakable. Anconas are superb layers of white eggs and tireless foragers, but they're alert, active and quite flighty — "pheasant-like" birds that would rather roost in a tree than sit still. They shrug off frost and heat, and suit free-range keepers over those wanting a tame pet.
Cold hardy
Heat tolerant
Broody
Flighty
Egg colorWhite
Egg production200–250 / year
TemperamentFlighty
BroodinessOccasional
ClimateCold hardy, Heat tolerant
PurposeEggs, Meat
Weight
Large fowl (Standard size)
Hen4.5 lb
Rooster6 lb
Bantam (Miniature size)
Hen1.4 lb
Rooster1.6 lb
How to spot it
Comb
SingleRose
Earlobes
White
Legs & feet
Yellow legs mottled with black, four toes
Plumage
Beetle-green black with roughly one feather in five tipped white; more white appears with each moult
Look for
Leghorn-like build in speckled black-and-white, with yellow legs flecked black
Single
Rose
