Large fowl and bantam

Origin: Mediterranean

Classification: Light, soft feather

Egg colour: White to cream

Weight: Large fowl; male 2.7- 2.95kg, female 2.25 – 2.5kg. Bantam; male 570-680g,
female 510-620g

History

Imported to England in 1851 from Italy, named after the Italian province of Ancona. First seen in single comb, then rose comb. Member of the Leghorn family.

Characteristics

Male

Carriage: alert, bold and active

Type: Body broad, close and compact. Back of moderate length. Breast full and broad, carried well forward and upward. Wings large and carried well tucked up. Tail full and carried well out.

Head: deep, moderate in length, rather inclined to width, and carried well back. Beak medium with a moderate curve. Eyes bright and prominent. Comb single or rose. The single of medium size, upright and with five to seven deep, broad and even serrations forming a regular curve, coming well back and following the line of the head, free from excrescences. The rose resembles that of the Wyandotte. Face smooth and of fine texture. Ear lobes medium, inclined to almond shape, free from folds. Wattles long, fine in texture, in proportion to the comb.

Neck: long, nicely arched and well covered with hackle.

Legs and feet: legs of medium length, strong, set well apart, clear of feathers, thighs not much seen. Toes, four, rather long and thin and well spread out.

Female

With the exception of the single comb which falls gracefully to one side of the face without obscuring vision, generally similar to the male allowing for natural sexual differences. The body however is round and compact, with greater posterior development than in the male. The back is rather long and broad, the neck of medium length and carried well up.

Colour

Male and female; good beetle-green ground, tipped with white (the more V-shaped the better). No inclination to lacing. The more evenly V-tipped throughout with beetle-green and white the better, provided the ground colour is beetle-green. Beak yellow with black or horn shadings; a wholly yellow beak not desirable. Eyes, iris orange-red, pupil hazel. Comb, face and wattles bright red, face free from white. Ear lobes white. Legs, yellow mottled with black, the more evenly mottled the better.

Defects: in-kneed, squirrel tail, crooked toes, white or light undercolour, ground colour other than beetle green, tail not tipped, tail not black to roots, wings anything other than black tipped with white, bad comb, white in face, lobe other than white.