History of the Lincolnshire Buff
Lincolnshire Buffs are thought to have appeared around the 1850s. Their ancestors likely include the Buff Cochin, which had been recently introduced to the UK, and the Dorking. It was a dual-purpose utility breed found widely in London markets, popular for its white flesh, and had a reputation as a good winter layer.
However, when the Buff Orpington was introduced in 1894, it became wildly popular and was considered a refined form of Lincolnshire Buff. By the 1920s the Lincolnshire Buff was thought to be extinct. But in the 1980s the breed was re-developed using Buff Orpingtons, Cochins and Dorkings, and was finally granted a Standard by the Poultry Club of Great Britain in 1997. The docile and broody Lincolnshire Buff is an ideal utility bird for smallholders, as it produces more and larger eggs as well as a larger bird for the table, in comparison to the Buff Orpington.
However, when the Buff Orpington was introduced in 1894, it became wildly popular and was considered a refined form of Lincolnshire Buff. By the 1920s the Lincolnshire Buff was thought to be extinct. But in the 1980s the breed was re-developed using Buff Orpingtons, Cochins and Dorkings, and was finally granted a Standard by the Poultry Club of Great Britain in 1997. The docile and broody Lincolnshire Buff is an ideal utility bird for smallholders, as it produces more and larger eggs as well as a larger bird for the table, in comparison to the Buff Orpington.
Features of the breed
In general, the Lincolnshire Buff is a large, attractive, traditional-looking and docile dual-purpose breed. They have a large, deep, and fairly long body with a broad back and breast. Plumage is ginger-buff colour, with umber colour in tail and in wingtips (which must not be seen when wing closed). Male will have deeper orange colour to neck, back and saddle hackles, bronze and copper in the tail region, and copper and chestnut in the wings. It has a red single comb and red earlobes, face and wattles. Eyes are orange, beak is white to horn-coloured. Legs are clean (lacking feathers) and white, sometimes with horn shading, and breeding males might have red shading along outer legs. Feet have 5 toes, thanks to its Dorking ancestry. Cocks weigh 4-5kg (9-11 lb) and hens 3.1-4kg (7-9 lb). Between 120-150 large, cream-coloured eggs can be expected from a hen each year on average. Hens often have a good brooding instinct and make excellent mothers. Unfortunately, male fertility drops after 2 years, and the breed's gene pool is very small, so different lines of the breed are quite related.
Our Lincolnshire Buffs
Despite their lovely nature, we found this breed quite prone to illness and to fertility problems.
As of 2014, we no longer breed Lincolnshire Buffs.
As of 2014, we no longer breed Lincolnshire Buffs.