The Scots Grey is a

dual-purpose breed Dual-purpose is a noun and adjective referring to things serving two purposes. It can specifically refer to: * Dual-use technology ** Dual-purpose gun, a naval artillery mounting designed to engage both surface and air targets ** Dual-Purpose Imp ...

of domestic

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adu ...

originating in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, where it has been bred for more than two hundred years. It was formerly known as the Scotch Grey and until about 1930 was popular in Scotland. It is on the "Native Poultry Breeds at Risk" list of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.

Characteristics

The Scots Grey is a tall, upright chicken. Apart from the height, it is similar to the Scots Dumpy. The Scots Grey has a single

comb A comb is a tool consisting of a shaft that holds a row of teeth for pulling through the hair to clean, untangle, or style it. Combs have been used since prehistoric times, having been discovered in very refined forms from settlements dating ba ...

. The face, wattles, earlobes and comb are bright red, and the beak and shanks are white, sometimes marked with black. The plumage is barred. The ground colour is steel-grey, and the barring is black with a metallic sheen. Although both sexes are closely similar (apart from secondary characteristics), the markings are larger in hens than in cocks, and may give a

tartan Tartan ( gd, breacan ) is a patterned cloth consisting of criss-crossed, horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours. Tartans originated in woven wool, but now they are made in other materials. Tartan is particularly associated with Sc ...

appearance. The Scots Grey is classed as a light breed: cocks weigh about and hens about . There is a Scots Grey bantam. Cocks weigh and hens ; it is otherwise similar in all ways to the standard-sized bird.

Use

The Scots Grey is a dual-purpose breed, kept both for its white eggs and for meat. It is an active bird well suited to

free range Free range denotes a method of farming husbandry where the animals, for at least part of the day, can roam freely outdoors, rather than being confined in an enclosure for 24 hours each day. On many farms, the outdoors ranging area is fenced, ...

management, as it is hardy, and forages well. Hens are not generally inclined to go

broody Broodiness is the action or behavioral tendency to sit on a clutch of eggs to incubate them, often requiring the non-expression of many other behaviors including feeding and drinking.Homedes Ranquini, J. y Haro-García, F. Zoogenética. 1ra. edi ...

References

Chicken breeds originating in Scotland Chicken breeds originating in the United Kingdom Chicken breeds Animal breeds on the RBST Watchlist {{poultry-stub