The Erminette

The Erminette breed originated in the West Indies and was noted for their beautiful coloration pattern. The first Erminettes were brought to America in the 1860’s. As time passed, the breed was considered extinct in the 50’s and 60’s, but was rediscovered in the past few years. While Erminettes are predominately white with some solid black feathers throughout, there is also a white and solid red feathered variety. They are a dual-purpose bird (if you were crazy enough to ever eat one of them!) laying medium size white/cream eggs, are clean legged and mostly single combed, with a built that closely resembles a Plymouth Rock Chicken.

The breed is not totally perfected (notice it says mostly single comb for example) but is very historical. The birds are gentle, go broody, are cold hardy and forage well.