Penedesenca chickens: Rare backyard birds that lay dark red-brown eggs
What chicken breed lays the darkest eggs? That may be the Penedesenca chicken.
“The eggs are among the darkest of any chicken. In their first year, pullets lay eggs that are so dark that they are nearly black. After the first year, hens lay eggs with a reddish-brown cast.”
Unfortunately, I have not been able to find a hatchery or Penedesenca breeder in the U.S. whose hens lay almost black eggs. Those strains may not have made it over to us yet.
However, American-born Penedesencas do lay very dark eggs, and, unlike other dark brown egg layers, these eggs have a reddish tint. Penedesenca eggs are truly unique in shade among egg-laying breeds.
But are Penedsenca layers right for your flock? There’s a lot you should know about these chickens before committing to them. Learn everything you need to know in this article, including:
What Penedesenca chickens look like (4 different feather colors to choose from!)
Everything you ever wanted to know about Penedesenca egg laying
Climate considerations for Penedesenca chickens (are they a good fit for your region?)
Penedesenca temperament (are they right for you and your family?)
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Have Penedesenca chickens?
Penedesenca Chicken Facts
Category: Eggs
Origin: Spain
Egg laying ability: Good
Broodiness: High
Meat production: Moderate
Cold tolerance: Poor-Mediocre
Heat tolerance: Exceptional
Predator evasion: Exceptional
Foraging ability: Exceptional
Toleration for confinement: Low
Temperament: Flighty, active
Aggression toward flock members: Low-moderate
Noise level: Moderate-high
Origin of Penedesenca Chickens
Penedesenca chickens were derived from simple Spanish barnyard chickens that produced incredibly dark brown eggs. These backyard fowl were developed into the Pendesenca breed in the Catalonian province during the early-mid 1900s. A black variety of the breed was standardized in Spain in 1946.
The breed’s numbers dwindled almost to extinction during the Spanish Civil War and World War II. Thankfully, the breed was revived in the 1980s by a biologist with the Spanish government who worked hard to increase its numbers and popularity.
The American Poultry Association still has not recognized the Penedesenca as an official breed, but the chicken is gaining popularity with American homesteaders and backyard chicken hobbyists.
What do Penedesenca Chickens look like?
Penedesenca chickens come in 4 different varieties. Unlike other Mediterranean breeds, there is no bantam (i.e., miniature) type.
Penedesenca feather colors and patterns
The 4 varieties of Penedesenca chicken are: Black, Crele, Partridge, and Wheaten.
Whereas black is self-explanatory, you might not be familiar with those other feather types if you’re new to chickens.
Crele is a type of barred pattern. In roosters, some feathers are orange-red or barred against pale straw. Some are gray barred against white. In hens, some feathers are pale gold barred against grayish brown. Other feathers are salmon or gray.
Below is a video that shows a Crele Penedesenca hen first. About 45 seconds into the video, you can see a Crele Penedesenca rooster.
Partridge feathering in hens is a mixture of red, reddish bay, and black in complex patterns. Partridge roosters also have some green feathering.
The video below shows Partridge Penedesenca hen, Autumn:
Wheaten Penedesenca hens have wheat-colored feathers with some black. Rooster plumage is greenish black, golden red, and reddish brown. I believe the video below shows a Wheaten Penedesenca hen and rooster, although the hen is a bit darker and oranger than most Wheatens.
What else is notable about the Penedesenca chicken’s appearance?
The most unusual feature of Penedesenca chickens are their carnation combs. They look like a single comb in the front, but then depart into multiple lobes in the back. (The mullet of chickens, perhaps—business in the front, party in the back?)
The comb stands upright in roosters and flops to one side in hens. However, the combs of many American Penedenseca hens defy this rule and stand upright.
If you have photos of carnation combs you would like to share, please share them here.
Penedesenca wattles are medium in size, long in roosters, and more rounded in hens.
Another unique feature of Penedesenca chickens is their earlobes—they have a white core outlined in red.
Most chickens with all-white earlobes lay white eggs, whereas those with red earlobes lay brown eggs. Penedesenca earlobes are unusual in having both white and red coloring. The white color dominates, though, so you may expect white eggs. But, nope, they’re dark brown.
And they have beautiful eyes with honey-colored irises.
Other features of the chickens vary according to breed. I’ve summarized these differences in the chart below.
| Penedesenca Varieties | Beak | Shanks & toes |
|---|---|---|
| Black | Dark horn | Dark slate |
| Crele | Off-white | Off-white |
| Partridge | Dark horn | Bluish slate |
| Wheaten |
Dark horn (rooster) |
Light slate |
How big do Penedesenca chickens get?
Roosters: 5.5 lbs
Hens: 4.5 lbs
The Black Penedesenca, rare in the United States, is a bit heavier.
What do Penedesenca chicks look like?
The different varieties of Penedesenca chickens all look very different as chicks. The chart below summarizes these differences.
| Penedesenca Chick Varieties | Appearance |
|---|---|
| Black | Black with white patches |
| Crele | Brown |
| Partridge | Light brown with darker brown and black patches and stripes |
| Wheaten |
Light yellow-tan/whitish |
For wonderful photos, check out this website. And if you have photos of your Penedesenca chicks you would like to share, please share your photos here.
Are you getting Penedesenca chicks?
Share your photos, week by week!
Penedesenca Chickens and Egg Laying
Egg color: Very dark red-brown
Egg size: Medium-large
Age of lay: 5+ months
Eggs/week: 3-4
Eggs/year: 200
One American Penedesenca breeder described the birds’ eggs as a “dark ‘wet terracotta’ color with lots of speckles.” Another described them as the color of “a damp clay flower pot.”
The egg color is unique among dark brown egg-laying chickens found in the U.S.—it’s a dark red-brown, rather than dark chocolate-brown.
Broodiness: Do Penedesenca hens want to hatch their eggs?
Penedesenca hens do have a tendency to go broody and sit on eggs. They are also known to be excellent mothers, both attentive and protective.
Meat Production of Penedesenca Chickens
Penedesenca chickens are a layer breed, not a meat breed, so they won’t produce as big of a carcass. However, they do produce very high-quality meat.
See the video below to get a glimpse of a stuffed Penedesenca chicken recipe:
Penedesenca chicken: A hardy breed
Gail Damerow, chicken-keeping veteran and best-selling author, describes Penedesenca chickens as a low-maintenance breed in her book Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens. A low-maintenance breed is one that pretty much takes care of itself.
“Low maintenance breeds are good foragers that have other-than-white feathers for camouflage, tend toward broodiness, and are suitable for your local climate.”
However, see my comments below about Penedesenca chickens and the cold. Contrary to popular beliefs, Penedesencas do require help in cold climates.
How do Penedesenca chickens do in the heat?
All Mediterranean breeds, the Penedesenca included, are incredibly heat hardy. They thrive in warm climates and humidity.
How do Penedesenca chickens do in the cold?
Penedesenca chickens will survive in the cold. Unfortunately, they are highly prone to frostbite with their medium-large combs and wattles. Roosters are especially sensitive to winters.
I do not recommend these chickens for cold climates. Frostbite is just as painful for chickens as it is for humans.
If you live in a cold climate and you feel like you must have Penedesencas, at least consider hanging Sweeter Heaters over your roosting bars. These radiant heaters are designed to keep chickens’ combs warm in cold winters, particularly during the night.
You can find small Sweeter Heaters here on Amazon, medium Sweeter Heaters here, and large Sweeter Heaters here. I hang Sweeter Heaters in all my coops, and I can’t recommend them enough.
Penedesenca chickens vs. predators
Penedesenca chickens are exceptional at evading predators, and are, therefore, an excellent choice of fowl for the homestead. These birds are flighty, and this is one of their greatest attributes when it comes to predator evasion.
Penedesencas are also very alert and predator-aware. They even will roost high in trees for safety if they need to do so.
One breeder wrote, “Alert as they are, nothing can sneak up on them during the day, nor drop down from the sky unobserved. They see hawks coming long before I ever could. I hear them make the aerial predator call, walk outside, and it will still be a while till the hawk appears. I've seen a rooster take a hawk out of the air and then slowly stride back to where he sent the hens to hide.”
These chickens also move fast. One chicken keeper even said that her Penedesenca chicks were much faster than her other breeds. She said, “They were pretty cute. Looked like a group of long-legged raptors. And boy were they fast.”
Another chicken keeper also commented about her free-range Penedesencas’ speed, saying “They look like road runners running about in the yard.”
Penedesenca chickens: A+ foragers
“Penedesencas are good free-range birds that can find most of their own fare during the spring, summer, and fall.”
Penedesenca chickens are some of the best foragers out there. They will forage a high percentage of their food if given the chance. They are excellent at helping homesteaders save on feed bills.
Watch the video below to see happy free-ranging Penedesenca chickens:
Penedesenca chickens: Can they handle confinement?
Penedesenca chickens don’t tend to do well in confinement. These birds were born to forage and roam. They will be miserable in confinement, and may even turn aggressive toward flock mates. Penedesenca chickens really need to live in free-range conditions or a very large backyard.
Penedesenca chicken temperament: Just what kind of birds are they?
Penedesenca chickens are flighty and avoid human contact. They are not a breed to hold and cuddle. Although, you may be able to tame them if you spend lots of time handling them from a young age.
If Penedesenca chickens are confined, they can be incredibly stressed and have high anxiety.
One chicken keeper said, “…they would just literally kill themselves at the slightest move of your finger.” But if your chickens have enough space that they know they have an escape route, they can be quite calm in your presence. This is especially true if they’re familiar with you.
How are Penedesenca chickens around children?
Because Penedesenca chickens are very flighty birds, hens usually stray far from children. This is not a breed to get if your children want to cuddle chickens.
Penedesenca roosters may be aggressive towards children. They can be hit or miss as far as aggression goes.
How well do Penedesenca chickens get along with other chickens?
Reports on Penedesenca temperament towards other chickens have been mixed. Some have said they are aggressive towards other birds, including their hens. Others have said they do beautifully with other birds.
I suspect that their aggression towards other birds is closely tied to confinement. Free-range birds, or those living in a large backyard, are much less likely to be aggressive.
Are Penedesenca roosters aggressive to people?
You never known when a rooster is going to be aggressive or not. Most breeds have both aggressive and non-aggressive individuals. However, there have been many reports of aggressive Penedesenca roosters.
There are many reports of non-aggressive roosters as well, though, so there’s just no guarantee either way.
Additionally, if you end up with an aggressive rooster, you can work with these roosters to bring their aggression down. It takes time and patience, but there are ways. If that doesn’t sound like something you want to do, consider a different breed.
Penedesenca chickens: Are they noisy?
Penedesenca chickens are more vocal than average, as is typical of Mediterranean breeds. This is great if you have predators in the area. Your chickens will let the whole world know that something’s out there, which can really help to protect the flock.
Penedesenca chicken health problems and life expectancy
Penedesenca chickens have a life expectancy of about 5-8 years or longer if kept in idea conditions. They are hardy birds and aren’t prone to any particular health problems.
Breeds you may want instead of Penedesenca chickens
If you love dark brown eggs, but you want a chicken that’s more docile and also cold-hardy, the Black Copper Marans chicken may be the perfect choice for you. Welsummers are another excellent option—incredibly friendly birds that lay gorgeous dark brown, speckled eggs.
