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 Impr ...

of domestic

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

originating in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, 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 The Rare Breeds Survival Trust is a conservation (ethic), conservation charity whose purpose is to secure the continued existence and viability of the native farm animal genetic resources (FAnGR) of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1973 b ...

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 or plaid ( ) is a patterned cloth consisting of crossing horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours, forming repeating symmetrical patterns known as ''setts''. Originating in woven wool, tartan is most strongly associated wi ...

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 can roam freely outdoors for at least part of the day, rather than being confined in an enclosure for 24 hours each day. On many farms, the outdoors ranging area is fenced, th ...

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