Marsh Daisy
Gallus gallus domesticus
✨ Wissenswertes
The Marsh Daisy is one of the few chicken breeds that was specifically designed to thrive on wet, marshy ground — its name literally describes its preferred habitat. The willow-green legs and feet, a distinctive feature of the breed, are thought to be an adaptation from its Malay ancestry and help it navigate soggy pasture. The combination of Sicilian Buttercup in its ancestry makes it genetically unique among British breeds.
A rare British breed with a complex ancestry, the Marsh Daisy was developed in Lancashire in the late 19th century by John Wright using Old English Game, Malay, White Leghorn, Sicilian Buttercup, and Cinnamon Malay — one of the most diverse foundation crosses of any British breed. The resulting bird is a medium-sized, willow-legged, rose-combed fowl that comes in several colours and is adapted to damp, marshy ground — reflected in its name. Marsh Daisies are alert foragers, hardy, and productive on free range, but critically rare today with only a few hundred birds in existence.
🏷️ Rasse
Marsh Daisy
💭 Temperament
Active, alert, self-reliant, good forager on wet ground
📏 Größe
Medium (2.3-3.2 kg)
⏳ Lebenserwartung
5-8 years
🎨 Farben
Wheaten, brown, buff, black, and white — several colour varieties; willow-green legs
🌍 Herkunft
England — Lancashire; developed by John Wright, late 19th century
🏠 Lebensraum
Free-range; performs best on damp pasture or marginal farmland
🍽️ Ernährung
Layer pellets with extensive foraging
🎯 Zweck
Dual Purpose
🥚 Eifarbe
Tinted
👑 Kammtyp
Rose
🏅 EE-Klasse
Large Fowl