Know Your Chickens E-Book

Jack Byard

• Herausgeber: Old Pond Books
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Seitenzahl: 51

Beschreibung

Did you know that Barnvelder chickens are known for being lazy while Belgian D'Uccle chickens are known for being friendly? Impress friends and relatives with interesting facts about more than 40 breeds of chickens from around the world, including their history, personality, egg-laying and flying abilities, and other fun facts. From knowing what chickens are considered the "French Poodles of the world" to which ones can fly the highest, learn all about these diverse – and sometimes rare – animals with this fascinating guide and Know Your Chickens! • Features over 40 popular breeds of chickens, each receiving its own full-page spread • Provides fun facts highlighting their characteristics, history, personality, capabilities, and more • Includes distinctive, high-quality photography of each breed • Its compact size makes it fun and easy to flip through for fast and interesting info.

Leseprobe

Know Your Chickens

Old Pond Publishing is an imprint of Fox Chapel Publishers International Ltd.

Editor: Sue Viccars

Designer: Emily Kingston

Copyright © 2020 by Jack Byard and Fox Chapel Publishers International Ltd.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Fox Chapel Publishers, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.

ISBN 978-1-912158-47-8 (paperback)

978-1-912158-69-0 (ebook)

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Fox Chapel Publishing, 903 Square Street, Mount Joy, PA 17552, U.S.A.

Fox Chapel Publishers International Ltd., 7 Danefield Road, Selsey (Chichester), West Sussex PO20 9DA, U.K.

www.oldpond.com

Cover photo: Silver Laced Wyandotte

Contents

Foreword

1 Ancona

2 Andalusian

3 Appenzeller Spitzhauben

4 Araucana

5 Australorp

6 Barnevelder

7 Belgian d’Uccle

8 Black Rock

9 Brahma

10 Cochin

11 Croad Langshan

12 Dorking

13 Dutch Bantam

14 Faverolles

15 Golden Phoenix

16 Hamburg

17 Indian Game

18 Ixworth

19 Japanese Bantam

20 Jersey Giant

21 Lakenvelder

22 Legbar

23 Leghorn

24 Lincolnshire Buff

25 Maran

26 Marsh Daisy

27 Norfolk Grey

28 Old English Game

29 Old English Pheasant Fowl

30 Orpington

31 Pekin

32 Plymouth Rock

33 Poland

34 Red Jungle Fowl

35 Rhode Island Red

36 Scots Dumpy

37 Scots Grey

38 Sebright

39 Silkie

40 Sumatra

41 Sussex

42 Vorwerk

43 Welsummer

44 Wyandotte

Acknowledgements

Picture Credits

Young free-range Rhode Island Red hens.

Foreword

Our feathered friend and companion, the chicken, has been around “since Adam were a lad”, as an old farming friend used to say.

The rich diversity of colour, size and feather pattern, along with their elegant toy-soldier-like strutting, is a joy to behold. Most are friendly, docile creatures but there are a few “grumpy old men” who will view your legs as their next appetizer. In the chicken world many are bred for the sheer joy, pleasure and happiness they give to their breeders, and many small breeders will put in two or three hours of care on top of a full day at work.

Standards of care for chickens vary enormously around of world, but thankfully the welfare of the birds is widely promoted and most chicken farming is undertaken responsibly these days. The vast majority of British farms and farmers ensure that all birds have a good and stress-free life, and lead the way in commercial standards of husbandry, while in the United States bodies such as the Animal Welfare Institute promote high welfare standards and animal-sensitive approaches to farming.

In the British Isles organizations such as The Rare Poultry Society and the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST) do much to ensure that rare breeds do not disappear into the annals of history. RBST grading, where mentioned in the book, refers only to the colour of chicken pictured. The same breed, but of a different colour, can have a different grade.

Jack Byard, Bradford, 2020

NOTE Many breeds of chicken have been developed to produce a range of different varieties/colours. In this book the breed heading and Characteristics information relate to the variety shown in the accompanying photograph.

1 Ancona

Characteristics

Colour: Midnight blue with bright V-shaped white speckles.

One of the oldest breeds of chickens, the Ancona was bred for centuries in the Marche region on the east coast of Italy. Fortunately it was spotted by a group of poultry enthusiasts and arrived in the British Isles in the mid- to late-nineteenth century. It was also known as the Mottled Leghorn or Black Leghorn since its beautiful patterned plumage gives it a strong resemblance to that breed. The feathers whiten with age.

This tough, hardy bird is extremely popular in Europe since it can adapt easily to a range of environments. It is an efficient scavenger and has a great instinct for finding food. It is also well known for its egg-laying abilities; it is quite common for one bird to lay three hundred white eggs a year. As a result of this range of attributes the breed has flourished. The high-flying Ancona must always be bred free range but kept within a high fence to prevent it from disappearing.

It is no longer used commercially but is bred for the pleasure it gives, still having a firm place in domestic flocks and at poultry shows throughout the British Isles, Europe and the USA.

2 Andalusian

Characteristics

Colour: Slate-blue with narrow dark blue lacing on each feather.

This ornamental bird was developed in Andalusia, and further developed in the British Isles and the USA. The modern blue Andalusian is a result of crossing black and white birds imported from Andalusia, Spain, in 1846. Crossing two blue birds will result in 25 percent black and 25 percent white, with the remaining 50 percent of the clutch blue. The Andalusian is therefore only bred by enthusiasts with an interest in preserving the breed. The development of the breed as we know it today is credited to the English, but whether this was achieved in Andalusia or in England is not known. A number of people have nailed their names to the mast including John Taylor of Shepherds Bush, London and the Duchess of Dartmouth.

The Andalusian has a magnificent presence, being both elegant and graceful (the reasons most people give for keeping them). It is also an extremely fast runner (the breed society suggests anyone wishing to keep the birds should invest in a landing net). One bird will lay around 160 creamy white eggs a year.

Originally from Andalusia in Spain the breed is now found throughout Europe, the British Isles, the USA, Canada and Australia.

3 Appenzeller Spitzhauben

Silver Spangled

Characteristics

Colour: Silvery white with a lacy bonnet; feather tips have black dots (spangles).Also Gold Spangled, Black Spangled and Barthuhner varieties.