When I saw these at the feed store I fell in love. I bought 5 straight run and luck have it I ended up with all pullets. Four of mine lay jumbo light brown eggs and one lays a jumbo spotted pale green egg. They are excellent foragers. Mine are a bit flighty but not what I would consider wild. Mine are big birds, but I would love to cross them with a blue Orpington to get an even bigger bodied chicken.
Naked Neck-turken
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The origination of the Naked Neck is unclear but they are thought to have been brought back by...
My first naked neck arrived by accident via hatching eggs I bought. Since then I've been breeding and crossing NN chickens for several years. They are great layers, good for meat production, excellent in all types of weather from hot and humid to cold and windy. They can be crossed with other breeds to produce different characteristics. My flock consists of green, blue and olive egg laying NNs that have Ameraucana and legbar parentage. I also have a line of Black copper Marans naked necks that lay chocolate brown eggs.
My oldest hens are three years old and still laying strong. Because they are so large and rugged, they can tend to pick on other chickens, especially if they are in a flock with several of their NN sisters.
Overall they are friendly and curious birds. They are experts at free ranging. I'm not sure how they would do confined to a small coop. Mine prefer to be out all day in the yard or in the run.
My oldest hens are three years old and still laying strong. Because they are so large and rugged, they can tend to pick on other chickens, especially if they are in a flock with several of their NN sisters.
Overall they are friendly and curious birds. They are experts at free ranging. I'm not sure how they would do confined to a small coop. Mine prefer to be out all day in the yard or in the run.
- Purchase Price
- $1
- Purchase Date
- July 2014
My Naked Necks have proved FAST growing, hardy chickens. They are BIG. I've had a number of different breeds over the years and these are the meatiest of the dual purposes I've had.
They are relatively calm and easy to handle. I enjoy their odd look. I will never be without them. They are one of my favorite breeds.
If ever I had to restrict myself to a single breed to meat all of my meat, egg and "chicken therapy" needs, this would be the one. Not only are my NNs prolific layers of large to jumbo sized eggs all year round, but they also provide the most delicious meat and are far easier and faster to process than other breeds. They're wonderfully intelligent and feed efficient birds with an abundance of personality. And when it comes to health and hardiness, this breed cannot be beat. Our excessive Arizona summers barely faze them, and while our winters don't get exceptionally cold like other parts of the country do, my NNs have handled freezing temperatures with no signs of discomfort or distress.
The chicks are amazingly hardy and feather out much more quickly than most other fully feathered breeds. Many of my chicks begin roosting on the edge of the brooder by 1 1/2 weeks and are very smart and active. Like most other breeds, however, they still go through an awkward, flighty stage beginning around 3 weeks and lasting until roughly 6 weeks of age. After that they become surprisingly friendly and confident.
Most of my roosters are friendly without being particularly affectionate with the exception of one boy who anxiously waits for me to come outside and sit down so he can jump up on my lap to be pet, but the minute he thinks something may be threatening his girls he's off at a run to protect them. My roosters have also become very adept at distinguishing annoyances like crows from predatory hawks and sound the alarm loud and clear and herd the hens to safety. All of my roosters (I've hatched nearly 3 dozen of them now) have been amazingly attentive to their hens and I've only ever had one rooster that was aggressive. (He was delicious roasted in wine.)
All of my hens have been exceptionally sweet and friendly and it's not uncommon for them to perch on my lap, sometimes several at once, to be pet or just spend time with me. During a bad week I may only get 4 large eggs from one of my hens, but that's a rare occurrence with the majority of my girls giving me 6 huge eggs per week. In fact, my best laying NN only took a break from laying when she molted so heavily as to be completely bald and needed to grow the feathers back. She took 3 weeks off and went right back to giving me jumbo-sized green eggs six days per week, and she's 2 years old.
As you can see from the photo of one of my roosters, you can create amazing color and feather patterns by crossing various breeds with "pure" Naked Neck Turkens. I personally keep three separate lines of NNs. One is my pure line of NNs that I'm working at reaching APA standard with. These birds, so far, tend to run fairly small, but have proven to be exceptionally feed efficient and the little hens lay amazingly large eggs for their size, averaging 5-6 per week each. Although their bodies are smaller than my crosses, their builds have all be very compact and meaty, both hens and roosters alike.
My second line is comprised of my "meat bird" project and I'm working at increasing mass and musculature along with more rapid growth for earlier processing. So far my best hen has weighed in at nearly 8 lbs and my best rooster just over 10. In spite of their larger, meatier bodies, my "meat NN hens" are still giving me just as many large+ eggs per week as my pure line.
And finally my third line, which is a combination of my best egg layers and prettiest feathered birds. This is my "fun" group comprised of NN hybrids to give me both pretty plumage and an abundance of colored eggs, including blue, green, olive green, every shade of tan through brown, and pink. This group also tends to contain some of my broodier hens.
Turkens really are an exceptional breed and I highly recommend that every family farm and homestead have at least a few.
All4Eggz
Wow! Love how it looks like they have a little hair-do 
