Choose Your Chicken: Potch Koekoek

If you are looking for a handsome, indigenous breed of chicken look no further than the Potch Koekoek.

The breed was developed at Potchefstroom Agricultural College in the 1960s, through cross breeding with Black Australorp, White Leghorn and Barred Plymouth Rock breeds, in order to create a breed that is suited to South African conditions.

The name Koekoek refers to the barred colour pattern of the birds

The male Potch Koekoek weighs 2.4 kg at 20 weeks, the female weighs 1.7 kg kg at 20 weeks and they reach sexual maturity in 130 days.

They are hardy and quite disease resistant.

The eggs are pale brown, with the average egg weighing 55.7 g.

They love to forage but will accept confinement happily. They are excellent to stock in paddocks, orchards, stables and kraals to keep flies and ticks at bay.

They adapt well to human contact.

The Potch Koekoek is one of the most popular indigenous breeds in South Africa.

This is part of a series of articles on popular breeds in South Africa. For more, click here.