Sweden is known as the home for some of the hardiest chicken breeds in the world. The Hedemora chicken is absolutely no exception to this rule. In fact, there are some that claim that the Swedish Hedemora chicken is one of the hardiest chicken breeds in the world.
Facts at a Glance
| Eggs | +/- 150 per year |
| Egg Shell Color | Light brown |
| Temperament | Calm and fearless |
| Use | Eggs + meat |
| Weight | Male: 3.5 – 4.5 lb. (1.5 – 2 kg) Female: 4.5 – 5.5 lb. (2 – 2.5 kg) |
| Country of origin | Sweden |
| Foraging | Very good |
| Admitted to APA | No |
| Status | Rare |
The Origins of the Hedemora Chicken
The Hedemora chicken is what is known as a landrace chicken. This means that it is a breed that has not been specifically bred. Instead, it is a chicken that has naturally evolved to fit the area that it lives in.
In this case, that would be the Hedemora chicken. Now, we have absolutely no idea how long this breed of chicken has been around. However, we know that it has been spotted in this part of Sweden for at least 500 years.
This is a breed of chicken that is exceedingly rare. There are just a few thousand Hedemora chickens in the world. The bulk of these are split between the United States and Sweden. It is not a breed of chicken that is at the risk of dying out any time soon, though.
This is because those that live in Hedemora still raise this chicken extensively. The only reason why we have so few of these chickens is the fact that not a lot of people actually live in Hedemora.
Do You Want Big Beautiful Eggs?
Then you must check this ORGANIC & NON-GMO feed. Our hens lay jumbo eggs now and they love this feed! You can check it right here on Amazon.
The Look of the Swedish Hedemora Chicken
Because this is a landrace chicken, there is no standardization of the Hedemora breed. This means that this breed will differ from chicken owner to chicken owner. What we can say, however, is that it is evident that the Hedemora chicken has adapted itself to colder environments. This is a process that has taken them hundreds of years.
For starters, this is a smaller chicken. it is a little bit larger than what you can expect a bantam chicken to be. The smaller size means that they are able to retain heat a lot better than other chicken breeds.
This means that they are going to be able to deal with the colder environments a lot better than other chicken breeds.
In addition to this, their comb and their wattle will be incredibly small. This is to help combat the chance of frostbite. If you own this chicken, you may still want to put a small amount of protective vaseline onto their comb and wattle during the colder months, but there is less of a requirement to do that with the Hedemora chicken.
In addition to this, and probably the main feature of the chicken is their feathering. Their feathers do not even seem like feathers. Some have likened the feel of their feathers to that of fur.
The color of their feathers will be mostly white, but there may be a small pink tint in them here and there.
There is a bit of diversity in the chicken breed in relation to feather coloring. However, the bulk of the diversity of the breed seems to be focused on their legs.
Some Hedemora chickens will have feathers on their legs, while others won’t. Of course, the ones with feathers on their legs do even better in colder climates.
The Swedish Hedemora Chicken as a Show Chicken
This is not a show chicken, and it never will be a show chicken. Because it is a landrace chicken, there is no standardization of the breed.
This is a chicken that has evolved to adapt to an environment. It has never been bred to look as good as possible. Even if there was a standard for the breed, there are just so few breeders of the Hedemora chicken that it would never make chicken shows viable.
Remember, you have this breed spread about two countries, separated by hundreds and hundreds of miles. There are only a few thousand chickens.
It does make a good ornamental chicken if you have land in a colder location, though.
As a Meat Chicken
This may be a smaller breed of chicken with hens weighing 3.5 – 4.5 lb. (1.5 – 2 kg), while a Hedemora rooster can grow up to 5.5 lb. (2.5 kg). But that hasn’t stopped it from being used as a meat chicken breed.
It is not going to be producing a huge amount of meat, but if you live in a colder location, you pretty much have to take what you can get!
By all accounts, the Hedemora chicken tastes pretty decent, so it probably doesn’t matter that it isn’t able to produce a ton of meat anyway. You still end up with a decent chicken.
The Hedemora Chicken as an Egg Chicken
The Hedemora chicken that can lay almost 200 eggs per year. As you can probably guess, the chicken is able to continue to lay these eggs throughout the colder months of the year.
In fact, if you wd version of this chicken will be laying eggs throughout the place. Some people will even hunt down those eggs for food.
This chicken is a good mother to their children and they can get quite broody. This means it shouldn’t be that difficult to raise. Many people, however, do suggest that if you are planning on raising the Hedemora hens, you should probably raise the eggs in an incubator.
This is because most of these chickens are going to be breeding in colder locations, and you probably do not want to be running the risk that the mother is not able to adequately raise their young.
Raising the Hedemora Chicken
This is a hardy chicken and it is one of only a few chicken breeds that is able to cope with the snow. However, as we said before, you will probably want to be spreading a small amount of vaseline on the comb of this chicken in order to ensure that they can thrive in the colder weather.
We would not run the risk of raising this chicken in a warmer location. The thick, fur-like feathers could result in them suffering from heat stroke.
If you want a friendly chicken breed, then the Hedemora Chicken does well to bond with its human owners.
