Ancona

The Ancona is a small, light-bodied hen from the Mediterranean, named after the port city of Ancona on Italy's Adriatic coast. What catches the eye straight away is the speckled plumage: a glossy black base flecked with white, with roughly one feather in three tipped white. The white increases with every moult, so an older bird carries noticeably more white than a young pullet fresh off the perch.

This is a hen bred for the egg basket rather than the table. A healthy Ancona lays a good run of medium white eggs right through the year, and unlike heavier dual-purpose breeds, she tends to keep laying through the cold months. Broodiness is rare in the breed, so hens stay productive instead of going off lay to sit a clutch.

Anconas are sharp, quick on their feet, and at their best with room to range. Given the space, they forage hard for insects, slugs, and greens, which cuts down on feed bills for anyone able to let them out. They fly well too, happy to use a perch, a gate, or a low branch, so fencing and housing need to be built with that in mind.

Who's it for

The Ancona suits a keeper after a steady supply of eggs who can offer plenty of room to roam. The breed does well on free range or in a large run and keeps laying through a cool, damp winter better than most. It's not the bird for anyone wanting a placid lap hen or one content behind a small run, because Anconas are flighty, quick, and always looking for a way over the fence. They settle fine in a mixed flock and hold their own, but this isn't the breed for a keeper after a quiet, biddable pet.

The breed took shape in the Marche region of central Italy, around the Adriatic port that gave it its name, bred up from local farmyard fowl. These birds shared their ancestry with the wider Mediterranean group that also gave the world the Leghorn, and in the early days the two weren't always kept apart. What marked the Ancona out was the black-and-white speckled plumage rather than the solid colours common in related stock.

Anconas made the journey to England in the mid-1800s, with imports on record from around the 1850s. British breeders tidied up the type and fixed the mottled pattern, and most of today's standard comes down from that work. The breed was taken into the British poultry standards later in the century.

From England and Italy, the Ancona crossed the Atlantic to the United States. It was accepted into the American Poultry Association's Standard of Perfection, with the single-comb variety recognised in 1898 and the rose-comb version added some years after. Both comb types are still kept today.

Through the twentieth century the Ancona was prized as a hardy farm layer, particularly where hens had to forage for themselves and stand up to the cold. As commercial egg production moved over to specialised hybrid strains, Ancona numbers dropped away, and the breed is now kept mainly by smallholders, show breeders, and those minding traditional poultry lines.

The Ancona carries the trim, purposeful shape of a Mediterranean layer. The body is fairly compact, held with the breast forward and the tail carried up well. Face, comb, and wattles are bright red, with white earlobes. Two comb types are bred: a single comb, upright on cocks and often folding to one side on hens, and a rose comb, sitting low and flat to the head.

The real mark of the breed is the feathering. Each feather is black with a green sheen and finishes in a white tip shaped like a V. The goal is even speckling right across the bird, not patches of solid colour. White tipping builds up with every moult, so the same hen looks darker as a pullet and carries more white as she ages.

Coat and colours

Black-and-white speckled is the recognised colour. A good bird shows clean white earlobes, a long flowing tail on the cock, and yellow legs and beak, with a bit of black flecking on the legs being typical. Bantam Anconas are bred too, carrying the same pattern at a smaller size. Patchy mottling, solid white feathers, or a dull sheen count as faults under the standard.

The Ancona is curious, full of energy, and rarely still. Birds spend the day out foraging and will cover serious ground when let range freely. They're sharp to overhead threats and quick into cover, which serves them better against hawks than slower, heavier breeds manage.

Around people, Anconas keep their distance. They're not aggressive, but they don't care for being caught or handled, and will run or take to the air sooner than be picked up. Regular, gentle handling from chick stage can settle individual birds, but the breed as a whole stays flighty. With other hens they're generally easy-going in a flock that has enough room, though their pace and energy can rattle calmer breeds.

The breed flies well and will roost high given half a chance. Keepers should expect birds to clear low fences without much bother, so runs may need a cover or taller boundaries.

Anconas are low-maintenance birds for a keeper who can meet their need to be active. The tight feathering sheds rain well and stands up to the cold, so the main jobs are providing space, keeping them secure, and routine flock care.

Grooming

• Check the vent and the feathers around it for cleanliness, especially in wet weather.
• Check legs and feet for scaly leg mite and treat early if spotted.
• Provide a dry dust bath so birds can manage external parasites themselves.
• Clip a wing if needed to limit flying, though this leaves them less able to escape predators.

Exercise

• Give daily free range or a large run; Anconas do poorly in close confinement.
• Provide perches and varied ground so birds can forage and fly.
• Scatter feed or greens to encourage natural foraging.

Environment

The rose-comb form handles the cold well thanks to its small comb and dense feathering, but single-combed birds can get frostbite on the comb tips during a hard frost. Provide a draught-free, well-ventilated coop with dry bedding, and keep an eye on damp litter after a spell of soft weather, since a damp, poorly aired coop breeds trouble fast. In warm spells give shade and constant water, though Mediterranean breeds generally manage heat well enough.

As an active layer, the Ancona needs a balanced poultry feed matched to its stage of life. Birds with access to range will pick up a fair share of their food as insects and greens, which can cut down on the amount of bought feed needed, but a proper formulated ration should stay the base of the diet to keep the eggs coming.

Treats and supplements

Leave insoluble grit out free-choice so birds can grind their food, since active foragers take in a lot of coarse material. Offer crushed oyster shell or another calcium source separately for laying hens to keep shell quality up. Keep treats such as greens, mealworms, and grain to around a tenth of the diet so they don't dilute the balanced feed. Clean water needs to be on hand at all times.

The Ancona is a robust breed, typically living 5 to 8 years. Its small size, active habit, and tight feathering keep it generally healthy and well able to forage and dodge predators. There are no widespread inherited disorders in the breed, so most health issues that crop up are the common ones affecting any backyard flock.

Preventive care

• Keep the coop dry, clean, and well ventilated to cut the risk of chest infection.
• Provide a dust bath and check birds regularly for mites and lice.
• Rotate or rest the range ground to keep worm burden down.
• Leave calcium and grit out free-choice to support laying health.
• Quarantine any new birds before they join the flock.

Because Anconas are active, quick, and strong fliers, their housing has to give them room while keeping them contained. A standard coop with nest boxes and perches suits them well, but the run needs to be bigger and more secure than for a placid heavy breed. Birds kept in close confinement get stressed and may start feather-picking, so range access or a roomy run matters.

Setup checklist

• Predator-proof coop with secure latches and a covered or tall run.
• High perches set above the nest boxes to suit the breed's roosting habit.
• Dry, deep bedding and good ventilation without draughts at floor level.
• Shade and a dust-bath spot in the run.
• Fresh water always available, with grit and calcium left free-choice.

Anconas rarely sit, so hatching usually means an incubator or eggs slipped under a broody hen of another breed. The eggs are white and medium-sized and follow the standard chicken incubation period of about 21 days. Set clean, fresh eggs and keep conditions steady for the best hatch rate.

Hatching steps

1. Pick clean, well-shaped, fresh eggs and store them pointed-end down below 18 C until setting.
2. Run the incubator empty for a day first to check the temperature and humidity hold steady.
3. Set the eggs and start turning, marking each side so you can track the turns.
4. Candle around day 7 to 10 and take out any clear or non-developing eggs.
5. On day 18 stop turning, raise the humidity, and move to lockdown.
6. Let chicks hatch and dry off in the incubator before moving them to a warm brooder.