Rheinländer
The Rheinländer is a German chicken breed from the Rhineland, developed in the early twentieth century from local western German fowl and utility laying stock. It is a medium-sized, clean-legged bird with a neat country-fowl body, white earlobes, a low rose comb, and white eggs. Black is one of the classic varieties, though several colors are maintained by breeders. The low comb gives the breed a different outline from single-combed Mediterranean layers and helps reduce frost damage in cold weather.
Rheinländers are active, alert chickens that usually reward space, pasture, and secure fencing more than close confinement. They are known more as hardy layers than heavy table birds, and brooding tendency is often limited in many lines. Outside Germany and specialist poultry circles, stock can be scarce, so conservation-minded keepers pay attention to unrelated breeding lines and avoid selecting only for color. Good flock management centers on dry housing, room to move, and preserving the breed's practical laying character.
Colors: Barred, Birchen, Black, Blue, Brown, Buff, Columbian, Crele, Cuckoo, Duckwing, Gold, Gold Laced, Laced, Lavender, Mille Fleur, Mottled, Partridge, Penciled, Porcelain, Red, Silver, Silver Laced, Spangled, Splash, Wheaten, White
