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Andalusian Chicken: All You Need To Know About This Blue Hen

Andalusian Chicken All You Need To Know About This Blue Hen Blog Cover

This blue feathered chicken comes from the Mediterranean area where it is still found today (although in very small numbers).

A rare beauty is a very apt description of this ancient breed.

It is a bird that enjoys its’ freedom and is very capable of surviving in adverse conditions.

In this article we discuss everything you need to know about the Andalusian Chicken.

History of Andalusian Chickens

Andalusian Chicken

The true origins of this breed are unknown, but it is likely that the landrace chickens (known as Black Castilians) were bred together or with other local breeds of Castile, Spain, to create this particular breed.

Lucius Columella, a Roman agricultural writer, mentioned the Mediterranean fowl breeds in his writings De Re Rustica.

The Andalusian was imported to England in the 1840s by Leonard Barber and was first exhibited at the Baker Street, London show in 1853. The originals were a paler, washed out blue than what we see today. It was the English who set about enhancing and improving the blue color.

Depending on which sources you read, the Andalusian was widely spread through Devon and Cornwall. Other sources state that Devon and Cornwall had their own version of blue hens. I can find no information about the ‘blue hens’, but it’s likely that the Andalusian would do well among the rugged areas of those counties.

They eventually made their way to the US sometime between 1850 and 1855; no one is really quite sure on the exact date. The American breeders then continued to improve the overall appearance of the breed.

Appearance

Andalusian Chicken in Garden
This is an elegant and graceful bird with an upright carriage and a confident aura. It is a light, smallish bird that is very active – roosters will weigh around 7lbs and the hen 5lbs.

There is also a bantam variety that was created in the 1880s and they weigh in at 28oz for the boys and 24oz for the girls.

The single comb is large and may flop to one side a little on the hens, the roosters comb should be upright and have 5 defined points to it. Wattles and comb should be bright red. The earlobes are white and oval in shape.

Eyes are a reddish bay color; beak is horn in color and has a slight downward curve.

Legs are clean of feathers and also slate blue in color, there are 4 toes per foot.

The body of this bird is not as robust looking as say a Rhode Island Red or Orpington. The outline is much more in keeping with the Leghorn, which is Mediterranean breed.

It is long bodied but slender in appearance.

Ideally the plumage should be slate blue with delicate black lacing, but in lots of birds the blue can be various hues and the lacing can be lost. The quality of the color and lacing will depend on the quality of the chicken’s lineage.

As a Mediterranean bird, they do not tolerate severe cold well, although it is said the hens will lay well through the winter months.

They tolerate heat better than the cold, but need shade to retreat to when it becomes too hot or humid.

Andalusian Breed Standard

The Andalusian was not accepted to the Poultry Club of Great Britain initially, but was accepted a few years later. It is classified as rare, soft feather and light.

It was accepted to the American Poultry Association in 1874 where it is classified as Mediterranean breed.

Bantam varieties was created in the 1880s and was accepted to the American Bantam Association shortly thereafter. The ABA classifies the Andalusian as single comb, clean leg.

The unusual thing about the standard is the fact that the only recognized variety is blue. The blue would not exist without the black, splash and white members of the breed due to the genetics, which we will discuss a bit later.

Blue Gene

We have talked about the Andalusian blue gene before – it is what is known as a diluting gene. It is an incomplete dominant gene.
If neither of the parents have a diluting gene the chicks will be the color of the parents, or some combination thereof. Here is the table that sets it out for you:

  • Black x black = 100% black offspring
  • Splash x splash = 100% splash
  • Black x splash = 100% blue
  • Black x blue = 50% black and 50% blue
  • Blue x splash = 50% blue and 50% splash
  • Blue x blue = 25% splash, 25% black and 50% blue

Egg Laying and Temperament

Pictures of Andalusian Chicken

Andalusians is a good layer. You can expect 3 white, medium to large, eggs per week. This equates to roughly 150 eggs per year.

The really nice thing is that they are said to lay through winter too!

Andalusian hens have little interest in being a mother and rarely sit on their eggs, so you will have to provide your own incubator if you want chicks.

The chicks do feather out rapidly and are ready to lay earlier than many other breeds. You may even have the cockerels crowing at 7 weeks.

Disposition

This bird is said to be friendly and curious towards humans, but by no means docile. They may come to you for treats, but they dislike being picked up. It is a bird that enjoys foraging and ranging outside of a pen. It is very rugged in comparison to most of our backyard hens.

It will not thrive in close confinement and usually resorts to feather picking under those circumstances. If confined they may also become very noisy, nervous and flighty.

They are known to be adventurous and will fly over most fences with ease.

Common Health Issues

The roosters have large combs so will be prime candidates for frostbite if you live in colder areas.

Occasionally the hens may get a touch of frostbite too, but certainly not as often as the boys – keep your jar of Vaseline on hand through the winter months.

Since they love to range it will be worth keeping a close eye on their feet and check regularly for signs of Bumblefoot.

Otherwise this breed is not known for any unusual complaints or problems. Treat regularly for internal and external parasites.

Is the Andalusian Chicken Right For You?

If you enjoy a hen that is independent and a bit of a challenge, this may be your bird! The Blue Andalusian is not a cuddly bird and doesn’t like to be held or picked up.

You need a lot of space to keep this bird happy – they love to free range and can happily fly up into trees to escape ground predators, they may even try to roost in trees.

These birds can get quite noisy too, so your neighbors should not be too close…

If you want a chicken that is in need of help with conservation and you enjoy the challenges of breeding, this could be an ideal bird. There are few breeders here in the US and even through the UK and Europe good breeders are hard to find.

Summary

When you find a good quality specimen of this chicken it really is stunning to behold. The blue laced with black on the feathers is exquisite. Needless to say, getting a bird to this level of perfection takes time and energy, but the results are always worth it.

The good specimen Blue Andalusians have been used to add some ‘pizazz’ to other blue breeds too – notably Breda fowl.

If you live in the colder areas of the country and want to keep these beauties, you may have to provide a little heat at night to keep the temperature reasonable.

Otherwise this is a low maintenance breed that prefers to keep humans at a distance for much of the time.

If you keep Andalusians we would love to hear from you! Let us know in the comments section below…

28 thoughts on “Andalusian Chicken: All You Need To Know About This Blue Hen

  1. My Blue Andalusian, contrary to typical, sits quietly and happily on my arm. She does, however, have a real attitude, flogging at my leg and pecking at me when I’m walking, or sometimes pecking at me when she is on her roost. Anyone have any suggestions?

  2. As the gene table says blue x black will give 50% black and 50% blue, does that mean each chick be 50% black and 50% blue or 50% of the chicks will be black and 50% blue.

    1. It means the first one Anthony 🙂
      Your chicks will be mixed color – 50% black and 50% blue.

  3. Iv recently bought three Andalusians two black and one splash, they’re in a pretty small cage with three other small hens cause they like a lot of space will they be fine? I’m planning on moving them around to scratch up the soil for garden beds and do they get along with other breeds?

  4. Enjoyed your article as it describes my Andaulsians to a T. They have even protected the rest of the flock from stray cats coming into the yard!

    1. Update on my Andalusians. We’ve recently suffered tremendous losses from a predator and they were the only hens to survive. Last night, actually had to get one out of the tree where she had gone to roost. Hope to be able to get some more hens or chicks whenever we get our coop issues sorted out.

  5. Good article although I had read up on the breed. I got hatching eggs this season to start my blue andulusian project. I curremtly breed and exhibit LF and Btm Dominiques. Hoping to raise some exhibition quality and improve the breed.

    1. I think this is awesome! I love violet my blue Andalusian so much I thought about getting more of her breed. I had bred her with a Polish And they produce a Son.she bred with her own son and I have the most beautiful male Andalusian with lots of hackles and shiny blue black face to the feathers. Thanks for sharing your desire to conserve the breed.

  6. My violet will jump on my shoulder every morning for breakfast and treats. you are correct about her not liking to be picked up but she does not mind sitting on me and me loving on her. It took a year or so to get her this tame. I love her so much that I got a tattoo of her on my back. I do not know her lifespan. Anybody tell me? She does free range but is now getting more spoiled to staying at home waiting for food. I think they’re afraid of the hawks

  7. Thank you for this info on these beautiful birds I have one named Dahlia and she feels that coming inside and eating the cat food is her entitlement. She also likes to hang out in my room whenever the opportunity arises She is very personable (bratty sometimes though), but very much enjoys being tucked under my arm and taking a walk. Earwigs and other buys are her food of choice but they get layer crumble, cracked corn, and just about any other food that is given. I really wanted her to have Chickie’s but the incubator info you shared puts a damper on that. Will they recognize their own young and protect them is the question that I have for you. Thank you, Kat

    1. Here is info on how to introduce, but if you have a broody hen you can put the young chicks immediately under her and she will usually accept them.

  8. I have one blue and one black Andalusian hen. They are definitely independent and a bit irritated at me today since I have confined them to a 10 x 20 run due to a hawk sizing them up for snacks. I plan to cover the whole back area for them so they can have more freedom. They are beautiful birds.

  9. I think I have an Andalusian hen. We got her as a chick with others so I am not sure. We are currently houseing her in a coop and run with about 20 other chickens of all breeds, most of them bigger than her. She is very flighty but will come up to me when I am spending time with my chickens. I don’t know if she is happy, but I don’t want to let her outside because we have lots of predators. How can I make her happier?

  10. We have Freddie the Chicken (we also have a friend “Freddie the Freddie” who is a person.) Freddie isn’t a cuddly chicken, but she is very conversive. She loves treats and free-ranging in our pasture. She is smart. Her two other friends got devoured by coyotes while free-ranging, but Freddie survived. She is wily. She is either 6 or 7 years old and lays at least 6 eggs per week and usually an egg a day. Pristine white eggs. We recently bought 5 new chicks and they are almost grown so Freddie will have friends soon. Two of our new friends are also Blue Andalusians and we have 3 barred rocks. They are all very nice and get along. Unfortunately one of our barred rocks appears to maybe be a rooster. Very calm and nice but I’m not sure how Freddie the Chicken will like having him as a roommate. We’ll see. Have had a lot of types of chickens, but I have to say that Freddie is the best chicken and best producer of eggs we have had. Besides she has a great personality.

  11. I have bred and kept Andalusians for a few years and they are by far the most entertaining breed to raise while free ranging. Catching and hunting small snakes, mice, rats and young ground squirrels. Keeping a few can be dangerous as the roosters get aggressive and the flock would surely eat you alive if you lost consciousness in their presence. Best way to get good blue lacing is breeding together the blue offspring of a black rooster and a mostly white splash hen.

  12. Hi there! I have a 5 week old chick that I believe is an Andalusian (I thought I was getting a silver laced blue Wyandotte) but this is what happens I guess when you don’t do your research. She is supposed to be a pullet but starting to think she may turn out to be a cockerel. S/he has separate sprouting tail feathers that are independent from her tail. Are there any specific signs that I could use to tell whether or not she’s actually a roo?

  13. I just found out that my blue Marans is really a blue Andalusian! Lol, the white earlobes, gray legs and comb have finally allowed me to figure it out. What’s funny though, she is the snuggliest bird I’ve ever had. I cannot go outside without her flying to my shoulder where she wants to stay. I walk around all over outside snd in the house with her! Granted, I held her from chick age and she is completely bonded. While she is my snuggle buddy, she IS the boss of ALL the others her age, no doubt about it. Boss babe. She is such a unique bird and her laced feathers are absolutely stunning. After lots of years raising chickens, I’ve never had one like her.

  14. I have Blue a black Andalusian and Blau who might be a blue (splash) Andalusian. They are definitely altheletes and look ig. They are first out when anything is going on. Blau is in charge when Blue isn’t being mature enough. Noisey! Ugh!!! would like to raise the blacks (I have other blacks I could cros) but I don’t know if it is in the best interest of my kooo. They are assertive and don’t fit with the docile girls.

  15. My Andalusian, Dharma, is quite the character. She’s not the top dog, but she runs the dickens out of lower level chickens. In fact, I got a rooster just to temper her rambunctiousness. He’s an Orpington cockerel, so he might be too gentle to tame her ‘tude. Cross your fingers with me!
    Dharma has always been my best layer in the last 2 years. But lately her frequency has given way to enormity. She’s the smallest bird out there of the other 7, but her eggs are now by far the biggest. This concerns me – I don’t want her to get egg bound. In between these huge eggs are shell-less eggs and twisted up egg linings without yolk and white. They are often dropped under the perch where she roosts.
    She spends a couple of days acting sick and lethargic every two weeks or so and then she pops out a bowling ball.
    I cannot find an answer to why she is doing this. I supply oyster shells for calcium and their food supply is enhanced with oysters, as well. She has been treated for cocci in the past, she seems susceptible. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

  16. My Andalusian, Dharma, is quite the character. She’s not the top dog, but she runs the dickens out of lower level chickens. In fact, I got a rooster just to temper her rambunctiousness. He’s an Orpington cockerel, so he might be too gentle to tame her ‘tude. Cross your fingers with me!
    I held her a lot as a chick, so she lets me pick her up more easily than all the other birds. She was and still is my baby, even though my husband wants to wring her neck sometimes! (jk)
    Dharma has always been my best layer in the last 2 years. But lately her frequency has given way to enormity. She’s the smallest bird out there of the other 7, but her eggs are now by far the biggest. This concerns me – I don’t want her to get egg bound. In between these huge eggs are shell-less eggs and twisted up egg linings without yolk and white. They are often dropped under the perch where she roosts.
    She spends a couple of days acting sick and lethargic every two weeks or so and then she pops out a bowling ball.
    I cannot find an answer to why she is doing this. I supply oyster shells for calcium and their food supply is enhanced with oysters, as well. She has been treated for cocci in the past, she seems susceptible. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
    Thank you!

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