The first Ancona chickens were imported into England in 1851, and selectively bred there for regularity and consistency of the white markings in the plumage. In 1880 a breeder named Cobb showed a group. Some birds were exported from Britain to the United States in 1888. Rose-combed Ancona chickens were first shown in Birmingham in 1910.
In the United States, the single-comb Ancona was recognised by the American Poultry Association in 1898, and the rose-comb bird in 1914.
The Ancona is a good layer of white eggs, of which it lays an average of 220 per year; the eggs weigh 50 g or more. Hens have little tendency to broodiness; pullets may begin to lay at 5 months. It is a typical Mediterranean breed, rustic, lively and hardy. Birds range widely and take flight easily.
The plumage of the Ancona is black mottled with white. Approximately one feather in three has a v-shaped white marking at the tip. All primaries, sickles and tail-feathers should have white tips. The black feathers may have a beetle green tint. In Italy, blue mottled with white is also recognised in full-size birds, but not in bantams. Australia recognises a Red variety, with a chestnut to red bay ground colour.
The legs are yellow mottled with black, the beak yellow with some black markings on the upper mandible, and the eye orange-red. The skin is yellow, the ear-lobes white or cream-coloured. The comb is of medium size, with five well-marked points; in hens it should fall gracefully to one side. In the United Kingdom and in the United States, but not in Italy, a rose comb is permitted.
Cocks weigh 2.5 to 2.8 kg (5.5 to 6.2 lb) and hens 1.8 to 2.1 kg (4.0 to 4.6 lb);ring sizes are 18 mm and 16 mm respectively for full-sized birds, and 13 mm and 11 mm for bantams.
Ephesians 1:3
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