|
The Chantecler originated in the Quebec Province of Canada and is
a fine example of a dual-purpose breed. Brother Wilfred Chatelain
first thought of the idea for the Chantecler when he was walking
through the Oka Agricultural Institute’s poultry flocks, in Quebec,
and realized there was no breed of chicken from Canada; all of the
breeds being used in Canada originated in Europe or America. He
wanted to create a breed of chicken that could stand the harsh
climate of Canada, and that could be used for both egg and meat
production.
From the French ‘chanter,’ “to sing,” and ‘clair,’ “bright,” the
Chantecler is the first Canadian breed of chicken. Under the
supervision of Brother Chatelain, the monks of the Cistercian Abbey
in Oka, Quebec, sought to create, “a fowl of vigorous and rustic
temperament that could resist the climatic conditions of Canada, a
general purpose fowl.” Although work began on this breed in 1908, it
was not introduced to the public until 1918, and admitted to the
American Poultry Association Standard of Perfection in 1921.
 The Chantecler was created by first crossing a Dark Cornish male
with a White Leghorn female, and a Rhode Island Red male with a
White Wyandotte female. The following season pullets from the first
cross were mated to a cockerel from the second cross. Then selected
pullets from this last mating were mated to a White Plymouth Rock
male, thus producing the fowl as seen today. Although this produced
a pure White Chantecler, Dr. J. E. Wilkinson of Alberta, Canada,
decided to create a similar chicken with a color pattern more suited
to range conditions, one whose color pattern would blend with its
background. He crossed the Partridge Wyandotte, Partridge Cochin,
Dark Cornish, and the Rose Comb Brown Leghorn, to create the
Partridge Chantecler. The Partridge Chantecler was admitted into
Standard in 1935.
The breed is noted for having nearly no wattles and a small cushion
comb – the comb appearing much like a small round button sitting low
on the head. The small comb and wattles allow this breed to
withstand the cold Canadian winters without worry of frostbite. Not
surprisingly, the breed is noted for being very hardy, is an
excellent layer of brown eggs with a reputation as a good winter
layer (they more eggs through the winter than any other American
heritage breed), and has a broad well-fleshed breast.
The Chantecler can still be found in both of its original colors,
White and Partridge; both having yellow flesh and legs. It is an
excellent choice for anyone wanting a productive fowl that will
excel in a wintry climate. The breed is noted for being calm,
gentle, and personable.
Status: Critical
Info. from American Livestock Breed
Conservancy
Return to
home page
 |
|
 Delawares,
originally called "Indian Rivers," were developed by George Ellis of
Delaware in 1940 and were used for the production of broilers. The
breed originated from crosses of Barred Plymouth Rock roosters and
New Hampshire hens. A few off-colored sports were produced that were
almost white with black barring on the hackles, primaries,
secondaries, and tail. This coloration is very similar to the
Colombian color pattern, but with the barring substituting for the
black sections. For about twenty years the Delaware and the Delaware
x New Hampshire cross were the most popular broiler chickens on the
Delmarva Peninsula, because of the Delaware’s ability to produce
offspring with predominately white feathering. This is an advantage
for carcass appearance since white feathers don’t leave dark spots
on the skin when feathers are growing in. Both the Delaware and the
Delaware x New Hampshire were replaced in the late 1950's by the
Cornish x Rock cross (solid white) that has come to dominate the
industry.
Though its economic dominance was short lived, the Delaware still
makes an excellent dual-purpose bird. It has well-developed egg and
meat qualities, and a calm and friendly disposition. The breed is
noted for rapid growth and fast feathering of the chicks. Cocks grow
to 8 pounds and hens to 6 pounds.
Delaware males may be mated to New Hampshire or Rhode Island Red
females and produce chicks of the Delaware color pattern. Delaware
females mated to New Hampshire or Rhode Island Red males produced
sex-linked offspring; the males having the Delaware color pattern
and the females having the solid red color of the sires. Chicks from
this second cross can even be sexed by their down color when
hatched.
Status: Critical
Info. from American Livestock Breed
Conservancy
Return to
home page
|
 The
Dominique breed developed from the fowl introduced during the
early settlement of New England. These were of the type
predominating in the south of England and from which the Sussex
and Dorking descended. This stock was widely distributed in the
Eastern half of the United States by mid 19th century. The breed
was generally known as Dominiques except in the region of origin
where they were known as Plymouth Rock and occasionally as Pilgrim
Fowls. The differentiation between Plymouth Rock and Dominique was
not made until 1870 when the management of the New York state
poultry show ruled that only rose combed fowl of intermediate size
could compete as Dominiques, and that all medium and large single
combed fowl of this color would be known as Plymouth Rocks. A
small single combed bird of this color was called a Dominique
Leghorn.
A great increase in popular interest began in 1875 with the
"improved" type finding an enthusiastic response among exhibitors
and farmers. The breed was never used commercially, and was
eventually eclipsed on the farm by the gradual shift to "Plymouth
Rocks" when the preferred type of "Dominique" had been transformed
into the "Plymouth Rock."
Dominiques have many advantages besides their handsome
appearance. They are hardy, do well on open range as well as in
confinement, are generally calm by nature and are easy to work
with and show. They hatch well, are early feathering, mature
young, and are of moderate size. The American Poultry
Association's Standard of Excellence indicates that cocks
run 7 pounds; cockerels, 6 pounds; hens, 5 pounds; and pullets, 4
pounds. The females are good mothers, reasonably good layers of
light to dark brown, and show less tendency toward broodiness than
many other exhibition breeds. There are both large and bantam
Dominiques. Dominiques are also good meat birds.
While for many years Dominiques were very rare, they are no
longer a "lost breed". There has recently been a revival of
interest in them which has placed them in a unique category of
their being uncommon enough to be interesting and unusual, but not
so common as to be a "me, too" breed.
The Dominique is a medium sized bird with black and white
barring over the entire body. The rose comb is characteristic. A
dual propose breed, these birds were kept to produce brown eggs
and chicken for the pot. The heavy plumage not only protected the
birds in cold weather, but provided material for pillows and
featherbeds. The plumage coloration also made them less
conspicuous to predators. They were expected to make a part of
their living by foraging and to raise a clutch or two of chicks
each year. our first Dominics should be arriving in February
2008. We will definately post pics as soon as we
can!
Status: Watch
Info. from American Livestock Breed
Conservancy
Return to
home page
|
White Silkies
Both China and Japan claim the origin
of these unique bantams and historians have traced them back to
Marco Polo. Their black skin and feathers that feel much like hair
make them one of our most unusual varieties of chickens.Our Silkies
come both bearded and non-bearded and are tremendous setters on all
types of eggs. They are striking in appearance with their white
plumage and mulberry colored comb, face, and wattles. The ear lobes
are a light blue turquoise and the skin is dark bluish/black. They
are a table delicacy in the orient.
Because this breed is such a good
brooder, we want to have a few of these just to hatch out some of
our eggs.
Return to
home page
|
|
Jersey
Giant
|
|
|
|
|
|
History
Originally
called the Jersey Black Giant after the brothers who developed
the breed, the Jersey Giant is the world’s largest chicken. It
was developed in
New Jersey
in America around 1870 as a dual-purpose bird. The early birds
were exceptionally heavy and roosters were often caponised
(castrated) which allowed them to grow to an astounding 20lbs!
They are thought to have been bred from crosses of Orpingtons,
Dark Brahmas, Black Javas and Black Langshans. The Black variety
was the first to be developed, followed by the White in the
mid-20th Century, which is a sport of the Black. The Blue laced
variety is a more modern introduction and is the most beautiful.
They are enormous birds, well built with a long deep breast and
this build is described as “brick shaped”. Their featherless
legs are black with a green sheen apart from the White variety,
which are of a dark willow shade, but the undersides of the feet
are yellow unlike the Australorps, which has white soles. The
eyes are dark brown and they have a single bright red comb, long
wattles and ear lobes.
|
|
Behavior
These large
birds need a lot of space but are unable to fly so boundaries do
not have to be particularly high to keep them confined. They
aren’t really good pets for small children because of their
great size though. They do go broody and the hens make very
protective mothers. The chicks are slow growing and don’t
develop their large frame until they reach around 6 months of
age. They are strong, robust birds, which are hardy in cold
weather and they are calm and gentle and will tolerate each
other well. The hens lay around 160 large, brown eggs a year.
Cocks will reach an average of 13lbs in weight while the females
are around 10lbs.
|
|
One
of the first chickens we started the homestead with was a Black
Jersey Giant. She is very docile and beautiful. We
hope to have more by spring of 2008. |
|
Status: Rare
|
|
Egg Color:
Brown
Return to
home page
|
|
|
Frizzle
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
bantams female |
bantams white female & male
|
|
|
History
Frizzles
reportedly originate from
Southern
Asia, the Philippines and Java around 300 years ago but examples
were actually documented in Europe in 1676. These only had
frizzled wings and neck hackles though. The breed is very
popular for exhibition, usually in the bantam form. The large
fowl was virtually extinct until a handful of enthusiasts
recently started a breeding program to revive it. They are now
considered to be a rare breed. Each feather is moderately long
and curls backwards towards the bird's head. The individual
feathers have a rather ragged appearance and the neck has
abundant frizzled feathers. Frizzles are erect birds with short,
broad bodies and a rounded full breast. They have long wings and
large upright tails and their legs are free from feathers.
|
|
Behavior
They are
hardy birds which grow quickly. The chicks appear to be normally
feathered when they are hatched but the wing feathers soon start
to grow and turn outwards. They are gentle birds and are good
layers who don't sit particularly well. They are classed as a
heavy breed and are often considered to be purely for exhibition
but make good table birds and are perfectly well suited to free
range or outdoor pens.
|
|
Varieties
The Frizzle
has been bred in several different colors :- self or single
colored black, blue, buff, white Columbian as in the Wyandotte,
duckwing, black-red, brown-red, cuckoo, pyle, spangle as in the
Old English Game and red as in Rhode Island Red. All colors have
red eyes, a single, medium sized comb and earlobes but the leg
colour varies and is usually darker with darker feathered birds.
Beak color also corresponds with feather color, the buff,
Columbian, pyle, red and white varieties all have yellow beaks
while the spangle, black-red, cuckoo, black or blue have white
beaks. There are three types of plumage - frizzled, over
frizzled and flat-coated.
|
|
Egg Color:
White to tinted
|
Return to
Return to
home pagetop
of page
|
|
Wyandotte
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
blue partridge male |
partridge female |
|
|
History
Wyandottes
originate from the
United
States and no one really knows which breeds were used to create
the Wyandotte breed. They were first reported in the 1860s and
the first variety was the silver laced variant. They are large
chickens with a particularly rounded appearance. They have broad
bodies and are full feathered. The hens have a deep breast and
backside which shows that they are good layers. The Wyandotte
has yellow legs with a round, short head, rose comb, bright red
ear lobes and reddish bay eyes. They are a good dual purpose
breed.
|
|
Behavior
Wyandottes
are docile birds and the hens are excellent broodies and make
good mothers. They lay well and chicks tend to be strong and are
quick growers. Their attractive "curvy" shape, generally good
disposition and many attractive colour patterns (varieties) make
them a good choice for fanciers as well as farmers
|
|
Varieties
White, Blue,
Buff, Red, Black, Barred, Partridge and Silver Pencilled,
Silver, Gold, Blue and Buff Laced, and finally Columbian which
has similar markings to the Light Sussex.
|
|
Status:
Fairly common
|
|
Egg Color:
Brown
Return to
home page
|
|
|
