Hamburg chickens were first discovered in Holland, although their origin is not clear. They are very active, almost game-like, and it was once a popular belief they were a cross between a chicken and a pheasant. The color varieties are golden pencilled, silver pencilled, golden spangled, silver spangled, white and black. They have white earlobes, a rose comb and curved tail feathers.

The hens are a good layer of eggs and can produce around 250 per year. Although they are a productive breed, other breeds became more favorable and now Hamburgs are becoming rarer. They are fairly hardy, active, good foragers and can be noisy. They require a free range set up and are not suited to small enclosures as they are flighty and tend to be wary of human company, although they can become tame when hand reared. Mature males weigh around 2.2 kg and the females 1.8 kg.