Hard Feather Chicken Breeds

Hard Feather breeds display close, tight feathering that follows the shape of the body. They often do not have a large amount of feathers. Hard Feather breeds are the game varieties and the Asian Hard Feather birds.

Being an almost polar opposite to the archetypal soft-feathered breed, such as the Orpington or Cochin, hard-feathered birds present a radically different image. The hard feather breeds offer keepers a combination of quirky looks, biddable character and limitless plumage colour range and variety.

The lack of feathering means that broody hens cannot cope with more than just a few eggs in the UK. In countries where the ambient temperature is much higher, this is not as much of an issue. Most breeders rely on incubators for hatching puposes.

Hard Feather breeds includes: Old English Game, Modern Game, Indian Game, Cornish, Malay, Assels and other game breeds.