The Ixworth large fowl was developed by Reginald Appleyard, creator of the famous Silver Appleyard duck, at his farm in Ixworth Suffolk. Development started in 1931 and the new breed was accepted into the Poultry Club Standards in 1939.

Back in the 1930’s, modern broiler chickens did not exist, so meat was produced from either pure breeds or first crosses such as Sussex X Indian game. Reg wanted to create a practical breed that would lay well and produce a quality carcass for the table. The cockerels would have to be light boned and carry a good body of meat at any age, so some could be consumed when quite young but still be meaty enough to be worth the effort of preparation. He later took this a stage further by developing a bantam version that would provide a decent meal from a small carcass. The breed was very successful during the 1940’s and 1950’s, but went into decline with the introduction of separate hybrid layers and broilers. Interestingly, there is now more interest in slower produced quality food, so the Ixworth has become popular again with the smallholding fraternity.