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Lakenvelder The striking black and white "belted" pattern
must surely make the Lakenvelders are one of the smaller of the "large fowl" breeds of chicken, with grown roosters weighing around 2kg. The are primarily an egg-laying breed, and the hens are excellent layers of medium to large, white or cream coloured eggs. They do not normally go broody, though I have had exceptions!
Because Lakenvelders are so scarce in North
America,
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Lakenvelder one of the prettiest breeds of chicken around. Both Germany
and the Netherlands claim to be the country of origin of this breed, and
they have certainly been around in both countries for close to 200 years.
Earliest mentions of chickens of this type date back even further, to
about 1700.
Lakenvelders
are very active chickens, and really come into their own on free range. I choose all
my breeds for, amongst other things, their foraging abilities,
but my Lakenvelders are truly the star performers here. I strongly
suspect several of my hens to largely ignore the grains I give them and
live almost entirely on what they forage for themselves. Because of
their smaller stature they may not lay eggs of the size you would expect
from, say, a Minorca, but in terms of feed conversion they are probably
the most efficient of my chickens. Independent-minded little souls, they
usually prefer to roost in the trees in all weather.
it
is very hard to get really good breeding stock. While mine certainly meet
the criteria of a hardy, active utility breed, their exhibition qualities
leave something to be desired... I can only sigh with envy at the
pictures of show-winning Lakenvelders in German poultry magazines! I hope
that over the years I will succeed in selecting for better looks without sacrificing any of their outstanding utility
qualities.© 2004 Quennell Lake Poultry