Groninger Meeuw
Gallus gallus domesticus
✨ Fait Amusant
The gull-mark pattern of the Groninger Meeuw — white body with black head — is caused by a specific combination of pigmentation genes that restricts black melanin to the head and neck only. This pattern is independently found in only a handful of breeds worldwide, including the Lakenvelder (which does it in reverse — black head, white body), suggesting the same gene combination was discovered separately by different regional breeding traditions.
A striking Dutch egg-laying breed from the Groningen province in the far north of the Netherlands, whose name translates as 'Groningen Gull' — a reference to the breed's dramatic plumage pattern that mimics the colouring of a herring gull: pure white body with a jet-black head and upper neck hackle. This gull-marked pattern is unique to the Groninger Meeuw among Dutch breeds and makes it one of the most visually distinctive European laying breeds. An active, productive white-egg layer, it was once a common farmyard bird across the Groningen clay-plain farmsteads and is now a conservation breed.
🏷️ Race
Groninger Meeuw
💭 Tempérament
Active, alert, flighty, hardy, good forager
📏 Taille
Medium (2.3-2.7 kg)
⏳ Espérance de vie
5-8 years
🎨 Couleurs
Pure white body with jet-black head and upper neck hackle — the 'gull mark' pattern
🌍 Origine
Netherlands — Groningen province; traditional north Dutch farmyard breed; EE recognised
🏠 Habitat
Free-range preferred; adapted to the flat, windswept Groningen clay plains
🍽️ Alimentation
Layer pellets; excellent forager on northern Dutch polderland
🎯 Usage
Egg
🥚 Couleur des œufs
White
👑 Type de crête
Single
🏅 Classe EE
Large Fowl