The Schweizer Chicken, German for “Swiss”

BREED NAME: Schweizer Chicken, or Swiss Chicken

BRIEF DESCRIPTION: The Schweizer Chicken, German for “Swiss”, has been popular in the German speaking regions of Switzerland. It is a large white chicken with bright red comb, wattles and lobes.

Designed for life in the high country the breed is hardy in cold climates, it’s close comb and wattles resisting frost bite. It is heavy bodied and large boned resembling the body type of Cornish cross.

The Facts: Swiss Chicken

Class: large

Size: Standard Male: 6.6 to 7.7Ibs. / Standard Female: 5.5 to 6.5 Ibs.

Comb, Wattles & Earlobes: Red – rose combs

Color: White feathering, pink beaks, nails and shanks

Place of Origin: Switzerland

Conservation Status: rare

Special Qualities: The Swiss Chicken was developed through hybridization of the Orpington and Wyandotte breeds. The standard was defined in 1910 by the breeder, Alfred Weiss, when a German-Swiss Schweizerhuhn breed association was forged.

The breed continued to grow in popularity until the end of WWII, when industrialized agriculture streamlined poultry production for financial values.

As with many old breeds that thrived in farm settings, industrialized poultry farming preferred more fast growing and high producing breeds.

Hens are non setting and may produce up to 200 white eggs per year.

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