Lincolnshire Buff
Gallus gallus domesticus
✨ Fun Fact
The Lincolnshire Buff was so popular as a table bird in Victorian England that live birds were regularly sent by rail from Lincolnshire to London's Leadenhall Market, one of the finest poultry markets in the country. The breed effectively disappeared twice — once when commercial farming overtook it in the 1950s, and then the reconstructed version came close to disappearing again in the 1990s before dedicated breeders stabilised the population.
A large, buff-coloured table breed that was once widely kept in Lincolnshire and surrounding English counties as a premium meat bird for the London market, the Lincolnshire Buff was effectively extinct by the mid-20th century. The original breed disappeared when commercial poultry farming took over, but a reconstruction programme beginning in the 1980s and 1990s used surviving Lincolnshire Buff-type birds crossed with Buff Orpington, Buff Sussex, and Buff Cochin to rebuild a breed that resembles historical descriptions. The reconstructed Lincolnshire Buff is a slow-growing, large-framed, calm bird with good foraging ability.
🏷️ Breed
Lincolnshire Buff
💭 Temperament
Calm, docile, placid, slow-maturing
📏 Size
Large (3.6-4.5 kg)
⏳ Lifespan
5-8 years
🎨 Colors
Rich gold-buff throughout; white skin; pale legs
🌍 Origin
England — Lincolnshire; historic breed, reconstructed from 1980s onward
🏠 Habitat
Free-range or large enclosed run; cold-hardy
🍽️ Diet
Layer pellets; good forager on pasture
🎯 Purpose
Meat
🥚 Egg Colour
Tinted
👑 Comb Type
Single
🏅 EE Class
Large Fowl