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This is mostly true, but somewhat incomplete. It's not just the size of the hen you're breeding, but her lineage. I've actually gotten some of the best size from only an average sized NN hen (about 5-6 lbs when she's at her peak) because HER mother was over 8 lbs. Pairing her with the right...

LOVE NN chicks! And the little chipmunk ones are just the cutest! Congrats!

Look at those long legs! He's going to be HUGE!

She's gorgeous!!!!

I know they fall victim to environmental changes more easily than birds with feathers, but I don't know about disease tendencies. One woman I know of who raised them would always make clothing for her birds to help them withstand the weather.

They are 100% featherless birds, known as "scaleless". They never grow feathers. Here's a photo of some mature ones:

I finally butchered my NN/Dorking cockerel. The meat was succulent and delicious...not quite as good as the pure Dorking, but much easier to process.

For behaviors, there are definitely a few consistent tells I've picked up on. Friendly little cockerel chicks that become teenagers that MUST get attention from me and behave with obvious frantic need or jealousy have got to go. They typically turn aggressive (one nearly pecked my eye out when...

It's taken a lot of time and determined breeding to breed the aggressiveness out of my birds. I had one gorgeous NN rooster named Goldie that absolutely hated my husband and son and would tear across the half acre chicken yard to attack them. Even the hens I bred from him were a bit "tougher" in...

It's fascinating to watch, isn't it? I have roosters I simply adore because they're so loving to me, but recognize they're not the best with the hens. I have other that are really good with the hens, but may be overly combative with other roosters and just a little too nervous with people, etc...

This is Dozer, another of my young breeders. He's the son of my eldest NN rooster from the hatch that got me started on the breed, and he's even better than his father. In fact, he may be the best rooster I've bred....totally devoted to his girls, extremely human friendly yet strongly protective...

I know of a couple NN enthusiasts who are working on sex linking, but my focus is still on size, growth rate, temperament and production overall. I look at all of the variations in colors as bonuses. :)

This is my newest breeder, Scout. He's 24 weeks and over 10 lbs so far, though I need to get a really accurate weight on him. I've spent today culling his smaller brothers and tonight will be moving him out nearer the hens that will become his so they can become familiar with one another. In...

Yes, for generating overall size using a larger hen will generally produce larger offspring in maturity, but it's not quite as simple as it sounds. I actually bred a nearly bantam sized NN weighing just over 3 lbs to small NN rooster that only weighed around 5 lbs and wound up with two of three...

I've had a few birds that were very slow to grow tail feathers as well. I'm not sure exactly what it is in the genetics that causes that. And....I had one girl that remained devoid of feathers for an entire year. She's actually one of my hardiest, healthiest and most productive birds, but once...

Yes! Pea combs! Definitely pea combs. I think it's actually pea combs. (This is why I shouldn't multi-task. I falter on the lexicon when I'm distracted. Sorry about that!)

Are you crossing him with recessive white? Or dominant white?

@cactusrota gave a really good explanation and guide. All I'll add is that a fully feathered "Naked Neck" will not produce any NNs unless you cross him with a NN that actually has a naked neck, even with a muff or bowtie. (Genetically Nana + nana will yield at least one heterozygous Nana, and...

This is Rocky when he was still only 11 lbs: I'm actually not using the proper genetic distinction for the NN gene, which is NANA for homozygous (full NN gene), and Na for heterozygous (hybrid NN gene). I'm lazy, so I use NN for homozygous and Nn for heterozygous. This guy is 1/2 White Rock...

Yeah...I tried cleaning up my black NNs with Australorp blood. Instead of black, I wound up with birchen: He was beautiful and a decent rooster overall, but did nothing to clean up the black. His children and grandchildren, however, have helped me produce some gorgeous reds.