The Ixworth is a British

breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...

of white 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 ...

. It is named for the village of

Ixworth Ixworth is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, north-east of Bury St Edmunds on the A143 road to Diss and south-east of Thetford. The parish had a population of 2,365 at the 2011 Census. History Ix ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, where it was created in 1932. It was bred as fast-growing high-quality meat breed with reasonable laying abilities.

History

The Ixworth was created in 1932 by Reginald Appleyard, who also created the Silver Appleyard Duck, at his poultry farm in the village of

. It was bred from white

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, white

Minorca Menorca or Minorca (from , later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Mallorca. Its capital is Maó, situated on the is ...

, white

Orpington Orpington is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is 13.4 miles (21.6 km) south east of Charing Cross. On the south-eastern edge of the Greater London Built-up Area, it is south of St Mary Cray, sou ...

and several variants of Indian Game, with the intention of creating a dual-purpose breed, a fast-growing high-quality meat bird with reasonable egg-laying ability. An Ixworth bantam was created in 1938; Appleyard thought it better than the standard-sized bird. In the 1970s the Ixworth almost disappeared; it has since gradually recovered. It is a rare breed: in 2007 it was listed by the

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. Its Latin motto, , translates t ...

as "endangered-maintained". In 2008 it was listed as "Category 2: endangered" by 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 ...

, and in 2014 was on the Trust's list of native poultry breeds at risk.

Characteristics

The plumage of the Ixworth is pure white. The

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 ...

is of pea type; it and the face, earlobes and wattles are brilliant red. The eyes are bright orange or red. The beak, shanks, feet, skin and flesh are all white. In a comparative study conducted at the

Roslin Institute The Roslin Institute is an animal sciences research institute at Easter Bush, Midlothian, Scotland, part of the University of Edinburgh, and is funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. It is best known for creating ...

in 2003, Ixworth hens were found to reach a live weight of at 55 weeks, and to lay on average 0.74 eggs per day, with an average egg weight of . The meat commands premium prices.

References

Chicken breeds Chicken breeds originating in the United Kingdom Animal breeds on the RBST Watchlist Ixworth {{bots, deny=Citation bot