Scots Grey

Scottish breed of chicken

Scotch Grey^[1]
Chick Marley^[2]
Shepherd's Plaid

Country of originUnited KingdomStandardPCGB (UK)TraitsWeight

Male:
- standard: 3.2 kg^[3]
- bantam: 620–680 g
Female:
- standard: 2.25 kg^[3]
- bantam: 510–570 g

Skin colourwhiteEgg colourcreamComb typesingleClassificationPCGBlight: soft feather^[4]

Chicken
Gallus gallus domesticus

The Scots Grey is a dual-purpose breed of domestic chicken originating in Scotland, where it has been bred for more than two hundred years.^[5] It was formerly known as the Scotch Grey and until about 1930 was popular in Scotland.^[1] It is on the "Native Poultry Breeds at Risk" list of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.^[6]

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. The face, wattles, earlobes and comb are bright red, and the beak and shanks are white, sometimes marked with black.^[3]

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 appearance.^[3]

The Scots Grey is classed as a light breed: cocks weigh about 3.2 kilograms (7 lb) and hens about 2.25 kg (5 lb).^[3]

There is a Scots Grey bantam. Cocks weigh 620–680 grams (22–24 oz) and hens 510–570 g (18–20 oz); it is otherwise similar in all ways to the standard-sized bird.^[3]

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 management, as it is hardy, and forages well. Hens are not generally inclined to go broody.^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b Jeremy Hobson, Celia Lewis (2009). Choosing & Raising Chickens: The complete guide to breeds and welfare. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 9780715333105. p. 84.
^ ^a ^b Chris Graham (2006). Choosing and Keeping Chickens. London: Hamlyn. ISBN 9780600614388. p. 128.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Scots Grey UK Breed Standards. The Scots Grey Club. Accessed August 2014.
^ Breed Classification. Poultry Club of Great Britain. Archived 12 June 2018.
^ Victoria Roberts (2008). British poultry standards: complete specifications and judging points of all standardized breeds and varieties of poultry as compiled by the specialist breed clubs and recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 9781405156424. p. 265.
^ Native Poultry Breeds at Risk Archived 2014-07-01 at the Wayback Machine. Rare Breeds Survival Trust. Accessed August 2014.

Scottish domestic animal breeds

These are the principal breeds of domestic animal considered to be wholly or partly of Scottish origin.

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Aberdeen Angus
Ayrshire
Belted Galloway
Galloway
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Luing
Shetland

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Scottish
animal breeds

Cattle	Aberdeen Angus Ayrshire cattle Beef Shorthorn Belted Galloway Galloway cattle Highland cattle Luing cattle Shetland cattle Whitebred Shorthorn
Sheep	Border Cheviot Boreray sheep Castlemilk Moorit Cheviot sheep Hebridean sheep North Country Cheviot North Ronaldsay sheep Scottish Blackface Scottish Dunface Shetland sheep Soay sheep
Chicken	Scots Dumpy Scots Grey

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Livestock breeds of the British Isles

Cattle

Beef cattle	Aberdeen Angus Beef Shorthorn Belted Galloway Blue Grey Devon Dexter English Longhorn Galloway Hereford Highland Lincoln Red Luing Shorthorn South Devon Sussex Welsh Black
Dairy cattle	Ayrshire Dairy Shorthorn Guernsey Jersey Kerry
Dual purpose	Albion British White Droimeann Irish Moiled Glamorgan Old Gloucester Pembroke Red Poll Shetland Whitebred Shorthorn
Primitive	Chillingham Wild Cattle Tory Island Vaynol White Park
Extinct	Alderney Blue Albion

Sheep

Extant	Badger Face Welsh Mountain Balwen Welsh Mountain Beulah Speckled Face Black Welsh Mountain Bluefaced Leicester Border Cheviot Border Leicester Brecknock Hill Cheviot British Milksheep Cambridge Cheviot Clun Forest Cotswold Dalesbred Derbyshire Gritstone Devon Closewool Devon and Cornwall Longwool Dorset Down Dorset Horn Easycare Exmoor Horn Galway Greyface Dartmoor Hampshire Down Herdwick Hill Radnor Kerry Hill Leicester Longwool Lincoln Llanwenog Lleyn Lonk Masham Norfolk Horn North Country Cheviot Oxford Down Portland Romney Rough Fell Ryeland Scottish Blackface Shetland Shropshire Southdown Suffolk Swaledale Teeswater Welsh Mountain Wensleydale Whiteface Dartmoor Whitefaced Woodland Wiltshire Horn
Primitive	Boreray Castlemilk Moorit Hebridean Jacob Manx Loaghtan North Ronaldsay Soay
Extinct	Devon Longwool Scottish Dunface South Devon

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Extant	Berkshire British Landrace British Lop British Saddleback Essex Gloucestershire Old Spots Large Black Large White Middle White Oxford Sandy and Black Tamworth Welsh Wessex Saddleback
Extinct	Cumberland Dorset Gold Tip Grice Irish Greyhound Pig Large White Ulster Lincolnshire Curly Coat Small Black Small White Yorkshire Blue and White

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Chickens	Croad Langshan Derbyshire Redcap Dorking Ixworth Indian Game Legbar Modern Game Modern Langshan Nankin Bantam Norfolk Grey Old English Game Old English Pheasant Fowl Orpington Rosecomb Scots Dumpy Scots Grey Sebright Sussex
Ducks	Abacot Ranger Aylesbury Orpington Khaki Campbell Magpie Shetland Silver Appleyard Welsh Harlequin
Geese	Brecon Buff Shetland