Gotlandshöna
Gallus gallus domesticus
✨ Wissenswertes
Gotland is a limestone island with its own dialect, architecture, and sheep breed (the Gotland sheep). The Gotlandshöna evolved alongside Viking descendants on an island so culturally distinct that it had its own legal code — the Gutalagen — centuries before Sweden was a unified kingdom.
A Swedish landrace chicken from the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, one of Sweden's most isolated and culturally distinct regions. The Gotlandshöna is a medium-sized, active bird with a single comb and clean legs, developed over centuries on Gotland where geographic isolation allowed it to evolve without influence from mainland breeds. Its plumage is highly variable — individual birds can be black, white, blue, red, speckled, or any combination, reflecting its landrace status where colour uniformity was never selected for. Gotlandshönas are exceptional foragers, adapted to the island's windswept, limestone-rich landscape where vegetation is sparse and shelter scarce. They produce brown eggs and are hardy to a remarkable degree. The breed was 'found' in the 1990s after being presumed extinct and is now maintained by the Swedish gene bank programme. Registered in DAD-IS and recognised by the Scandinavian Poultry Standard.
🏷️ Rasse
Gotlandshöna
💭 Temperament
Active, independent, extremely hardy, excellent forager, self-sufficient
📏 Größe
Medium (2.3-3.2 kg)
⏳ Lebenserwartung
5-8 years
🎨 Farben
Highly variable — black, white, blue, red, speckled, or mixed (landrace diversity)
🌍 Herkunft
Sweden — Gotland island, Baltic Sea; ancient landrace, rediscovered 1990s
🏠 Lebensraum
Free-range essential — built for sparse, windswept island conditions
🍽️ Ernährung
Standard poultry feed; outstanding forager on rough, low-vegetation ground
🎯 Zweck
Egg
🥚 Eifarbe
Brown
👑 Kammtyp
Single