The Minorca is a breed

Breed

A breed is a group of domestic animals or plants with a homogeneous appearance, behavior, and other characteristics that distinguish it from other animals or plants of the same species. Despite the centrality of the idea of "breeds" to animal husbandry, there is no scientifically accepted...

 of chicken

Chicken

The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...

 originating in Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

. They are classified in the Mediterranean class by the American Poultry Association

American Poultry Association

The American Poultry Association is the oldest poultry organization in the North America. Founded in 1873, and incorporated in Indiana in 1932 The first American poultry show was held in 1849, and the APA was later formed in response to the burgeoning need for an overseeing body to set standards...

. They lay white egg

Egg (food)

Eggs are laid by females of many different species, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and have probably been eaten by mankind for millennia. Bird and reptile eggs consist of a protective eggshell, albumen , and vitellus , contained within various thin membranes...

s. Color varieties include buff, black, white with the British recognizing a blue phase. Minorcas mature quickly and begin crow

Crow

Crows form the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. Ranging in size from the relatively small pigeon-size jackdaws to the Common Raven of the Holarctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia, the 40 or so members of this genus occur on all temperate continents and several...

ing sooner than other breeds. It closely related to White-faced Black Spanish and Castilian Black. Minorcas tend to be very flight

Flight

Flight is the process by which an object moves either through an atmosphere or beyond it by generating lift or propulsive thrust, or aerostatically using buoyancy, or by simple ballistic movement....

y.

Characteristics

The Minorca is the largest of the Mediterranean class of fowl in roosters weighing 9 pounds and hens 7½ pounds. They are utility fowl and were once in the class of widespread large flocks for laying and meat production like the Leghorn

Leghorn chicken

The Leghorn is a breed of chicken with origins in Tuscany, central Italy. The first birds imported to North America in 1853 were called Italians. By 1865 the breed was named after the Italian city of Livorno, on the western edge of Tuscany, which in English is also known as Leghorn.White Leghorns...

 breed which is the smallest of this class.
The distinction of the Minorca is its rather large white ear patch much like the White Faced Black Spanish, another of this class which makes it recognizable at a distance. The white phase of this breed which once numbered in the thousands is thought now to only have 100 chickens in all of the United States.
The breed was developed in England from imported Castilian fowl of Spain. Another of this Minorca group is the Blue Andalusian

Andalusian (chicken)

The Andalusian is a breed of chicken originating in the Andalucia region of Spain. Often called the Blue Andalusian for the color accepted for showing by the American Poultry Association, they also appear in Splash and Black...

 noted for its equally Minorca large-sized comb which limits this breed from the frigid northern areas of the United States and Canada where comb frostbite is a problem for these birds.

Weight

Cock	3.2 - 4.1 kg
Hen	2.7 - 3.6 kg

Bantam Variety Minorca

Rooster	960 g
Hen	850 g

In popular culture

In George Orwell's

George Orwell

Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...

 1945 novel Animal Farm

Animal Farm

Animal Farm is an allegorical novella by George Orwell published in England on 17 August 1945. According to Orwell, the book reflects events leading up to and during the Stalin era before World War II...

, three Black Minorca hens are mentioned rebelling against Napoleon's regime on the farm.