Some chickens lay your breakfast; these chickens stop traffic. “Fancy poultry” — the old show-world name for ornamental and rare breeds — runs from birds that are solid black down to their bones to bantams smaller than a pigeon to roosters with twenty-foot tails. Readers have asked me about fancy and unusual breeds for years, so here are fifteen worth knowing, each with the honest keeper’s note: what makes it special, and what it’s actually like to have in the yard.
Quick Facts
| “Fancy poultry” means | Breeds kept for beauty, rarity, or show rather than production |
| Reality check | Most ornamentals lay fewer, smaller eggs than production breeds |
| Easiest starters | Silkie, Polish, Brahma — exotic looks, beginner temperament |
| Deep-end picks | Ayam Cemani, Dong Tao, long-tail breeds — specialist projects |
| Mixing flocks | Docile ornamentals get picked on by production breeds — plan the mix |
| Buying rare | Reputable breeders over auctions; always quarantine new birds |
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The Fifteen
1. Ayam Cemani — The famous all-black chicken from Indonesia: black feathers, black skin, black comb, black meat and bones, from a pigment condition called fibromelanosis. Striking, hardy, decent forager — and one of the most expensive chickens on earth, so buy from a reputable breeder or not at all. Lays modestly; cream-colored eggs, not black, whatever the internet tells you.
2. Silkie — Fur-like feathers (no barbicels to hold the feather web together), black skin, five toes, and the sweetest temperament in chickens. The catch-and-cuddle bird for kids, and a legendary broody — silkies will hatch anything. Can’t fly, so they need low roosts and protection; those fluffy “do’s” also mean keeping an eye out for mites.
3. Polish — The pom-pom head. That crest is a conversation piece and a handicap: it blocks their vision, so Polish are jumpy about things they can’t see coming and easy pickings for hawks. Talk as you approach, trim around the eyes if needed, and they’re charming, decent white-egg layers.
4. Sultan — The full ornamental package on one bird: crest, beard, muff, vulture hocks, feathered feet, five toes. Bred as Ottoman palace ornaments and they act like it — gentle, calm, terrible foragers, best kept in clean dry runs where those foot feathers don’t turn to mud boots.
5. Serama — The world’s smallest chicken, from Malaysia: a proud, chest-out bantam often under a pound. Big personality, tiny space needs — the true apartment-scale chicken — but cold-sensitive and the eggs are, as you’d guess, garnish-sized.
6. Brahma — Exotic by sheer scale: the “King of Chickens,” a gentle feather-legged giant that can run eight to twelve pounds. Docile with people, winter-hardy, fair layers of brown eggs. Their size alone deters some predators — and startles every first-time visitor.
7. Naked Neck (Turken) — A chicken that looks like it’s part turkey, with a bare neck from a natural gene that halves its feather count. Actually one of the most practical birds on this list: heat-tolerant, hardy, good layer, unbothered disposition. Exotic looks, workhorse resume.
8. Frizzle — Not one breed but a feather type: each feather curls outward, making the bird look permanently wind-blown. Show-stopping and sweet, but curled feathers insulate poorly and shed rain badly — frizzles need dry, draft-free housing, and never breed frizzle to frizzle (the double-gene “frazzle” has brittle, miserable feathering).
9. Sebright — A jewelry-box bantam: every feather gold or silver, laced in black, on a tiny confident bird. One of the oldest British bantam projects and still a show favorite. Flighty, good fliers, minimal layers — you keep Sebrights to look at them, and they’re worth it.
10. Houdan — An old French breed with a crest, beard, and five toes, once the pride of Paris markets. Rare now, docile, decent layer, and a genuine heritage-conservation pick — keeping Houdans is keeping a piece of poultry history alive.
11. La Flèche — “The Devil Bird”: jet black with a V-shaped comb like two little horns. Another French heritage breed, active and independent, prized historically for table quality. Rare enough that finding stock is the hard part.
12. Phoenix — The long-tail line: descended from Japanese ornamental breeding that produced the Onagadori, whose roosters’ tails can grow many feet long. Phoenix tails are shorter but still spectacular, and they demand management — high clean roosts and no mud, or the tail pays.
13. Dong Tao — Vietnam’s “dragon chicken,” with massive, thick, scaled legs that look borrowed from a reptile. A delicacy breed in Vietnam and genuinely rare elsewhere; slow-growing, clumsy brooders, and hens often need help hatching. A collector’s project, not a starter bird.
14. Cream Legbar — Exotic where it counts: sky-blue eggs and auto-sexing chicks (males and females hatch visibly different, ending the straight-run gamble). Active, alert foragers with a little crest. The most practical “unusual” breed you can add to a backyard flock.
15. Araucana — The blue-egg original from Chile: rumpless (no tail), with ear tufts, and a true hatching challenge — the tuft gene is lethal in double dose, so even experts get modest hatch rates. Most “Araucanas” sold at feed stores are actually Easter Eggers (lovely mutts, not the breed). The real thing is a breeder’s bird.
Before You Fall in Love: The Practical Notes
Production reality. Ornamentals mostly lay less. If the egg basket matters, anchor the flock with layers and add fancy birds as the personality department — or pick the overlap birds (Cream Legbar, Naked Neck, Brahma) that are both.
Mixing temperaments. Docile crested breeds (Silkies, Polish, Sultans) get bullied in a flock of assertive production birds — vision-blocked and gentle is a bad combination at the feeder. Group the gentle ones together, give extra feeder space, and introduce newcomers properly: integration done right.
Buying rare birds. Rarity attracts scammers and sick stock. Buy from breed-club breeders or reputable hatcheries, expect to pay real money for real rarity (an Ayam Cemani at a bargain price isn’t one), and quarantine every new bird for 30 days — a rare bird can carry the same ordinary diseases.
Climate fit. Feather-footed and crested breeds suffer in mud and wet; frizzles and Seramas hate cold; Naked Necks shrug at heat. Match the bird to your weather before the looks.
Check your rules. Ornamental roosters crow like any other — if you’re in town, know your local ordinances before bringing home a pair (suburban keeping guide).
Real Questions from Real Keepers
What exactly counts as “fancy poultry”?
Breeds kept primarily for appearance, rarity, or exhibition rather than eggs and meat — the show-bench world: crested breeds, bantams, long-tails, laced and frizzled birds. Plenty of keepers run a “fancy” flock that never sees a show; the term is about the breeding purpose, not a membership card.
How many chicken breeds are there, and how do I choose?
Hundreds worldwide — the American Poultry Association recognizes over a hundred, and beyond the standard sits everything from Dong Taos to village landraces. Choosing is easier than it looks: decide eggs-versus-ornament, match your climate, match temperament to your household (kids = Silkies and Brahmas, not Sebrights), then pick the look you love from what’s left.
Are rare breeds harder to keep?
The birds themselves mostly aren’t — a Houdan needs what any chicken needs. The hard parts are around the edges: finding good stock, special cases like crest care and long tails, weather sensitivity, and lower egg counts. Read the breed’s specific needs before buying, not after.
Can I mix fancy breeds with my regular laying flock?
Often yes, with judgment: size and temperament gaps cause trouble, and crested birds that can’t see get ambushed. Bantams with large fowl can work if there’s space and cover. Watch the first weeks closely and be ready to split groups.
Do exotic breeds need special feed?
No — the same staged feeding as any chicken, starter to grower to layer. The “special” care is housing and grooming (dry runs for foot feathers, trimmed crests, mite checks in dense plumage), not the menu.
By Brad Wynne. I’ve kept backyard chickens and answered readers’ health questions on this site since 2009 — every question above came from a real keeper with a real bird.