Breda Fowl

Conservation Status: Breda Fowl chickens are an endangered rare breed.
They are a unique heritage breed from the Netherlands, with striking looks and adorable temperament. Although not a landrace, it is a very early composite breed, blending traditional lines of European origin. Its unusual features could represent unique genetic resources. 
 Comb: Uniquely comb-free, flat patch of red skin sits where comb would be. 

Blue Cockerel Breda Fowl – 2020 Vernon Winter Carnival Pigeon and Poultry Show
Reserve Champion Non-Standard Breed



This breeding flock has black, blue and splash coloured chickens. Most of our Breda Fowl hatch out black or blue and a few will hatch out splash coloured. We cannot sell them for specific colours as we sell them according to what hatches at that time. 

Due to their gentle nature, they are low on the picking order, so they should be kept with other calm and or smaller breeds. 


With their exotic looks and their sweet and intelligent disposition and they are a perfect bird for a pet or small flock. These chickens are calm, friendly and easy to care for. You can keep a few roosters together and they sort out who is who without feather loss or the over breeding of the hens. Like most heritage breeds they grow slowly, and they lay medium to large size white or tan coloured eggs. 

These are a smaller standard sized chicken breed about the same size as our Ameraucana and Legbar chickens. They have vulture hocks, cavernous nostrils and are the only breed in the world that lack a comb, making them especially cold hardy. Breda are also less destructive on the ground than other breeds but still make great foragers.

This breed has been newly re-introduced but is still endangered even in their home country. The breed’s distinctive head shape was chosen as the Dutch Poultry Association logo in 1900 and their name translated from Dutch means Crow Head ( Kraaikop) due to the shape of their head and beak. The Breda chicken has been recognized in the Netherlands for several centuries, its roots are unknown. Most agree it was developed in the Netherlands, although some believe it has Belgian or French origins. It is a composite breed, most likely of crested ancestry. Its feathered legs suggest a connection to the Malines breed.

The breed was known as Guelderlands or Guelders in the United States and was present during the early eighteenth century. Following the Civil War, the great explosion of American produced breeds nearly swept them completely from public notice and they experienced a decline in Europe at the same time. Black is the most common in the Netherlands and early exports. Other colourations are white, blue, cuckoo, splash and mottled. 

The Breda Fowl never made it into the APA Standard but there is a breed standard for the Breda in its home country and in the British Poultry Standards.

A large, crested fowl with a flat comb and feathered feet features in Jan Steen’s 1660 painting The Poultry Yard (De Hoenderhof) is reminiscent of the Breda Fowl chicken. However, it was not until the mid-nineteenth century that the breed was actually described.