Overview of shaggy chicken breeds
The shaggy hen, which has several species in the world, can be more than just decorative. Chickens with shaggy legs or shaggy heads may well be a source of delicious chicken meat and produce eggs.
Shaggy chicken breeds
Meat brama
Chicken of the Brama breed appeared as a result of crossing Malay and Cochin birds on the North American continent and was officially recognized as an independent branch of poultry in 1874.
Initially, meat birds of the Brama breed were distinguished by a greater difference in comparison with other breeds poultry size. The large cock is tall and reached a weight of almost 7 kg, which can be seen in the photo. However, in the process of paying special attention to the decorative appearance of the Brahm chickens (especially the plumage of the paws and trunk), the productive qualities of this trend have lost their significance. Individuals for further breeding began to scavenge mainly according to external signs, therefore the Brama breed lost its meat characteristic of a giant.
Today, the Brama chicken breed is bred as a decorative shaggy bird that gives meat and eggs.
Brahmas can be white, fawn, speckled and red. The modern representative of the breed reaches a weight of just over 3 kg, layers can gain weight about 2.5-3 kg. Remarkably, the dark-colored gates are more in size and weight by about a pound.
In appearance, the Brama breed is distinguished by a massive, strong physique, a lush mane, a wide rounded chest, and a lush tail. From simple chicken representatives, this breed stands out with shaggy paws, which are covered with thick feathers.
In nature, a dwarf brama was bred, which exactly repeats its large copy. These poultry also boast feathering on their feet.
Shaggy chickens of the Brama breed retained good performance indicators. So, the laying hen provides egg production at the level of 100 to 120 eggs, 50-60 g each. At the same time, the early maturity of the Brahm chickens allows them to start laying eggs as early as 7-8 months of age.
Sergiev Posad earflaps
The Scientific Institute of Sergiev Posad, using the Oryol and Pavlovsk lines, bred its own shaggy breed, called the earflaps. The newly emerged bird with shaggy paws is distinguished from its progenitors by the color of the plumage. If the Oryol chickens are light, the Pavlovsk ones are variegated, then the earflaps that appear are painted in a light brown color.
Ushanka fell in love with domestic farmers not only because of its proud posture and gravity, but also because of its good productivity indicators:
- the weight of an adult rooster with shaggy legs often exceeds the standard 3 kg, the weight of hens reaches 2.5 kg,
- egg-laying in laying hens begins at the age of six months and consists of approximately 150-160 eggs per year,
- each brown egg weighs 60 g on average.
In addition to the fact that the earflaps breed has plumage on its legs, they are also distinguished by the presence of massive sideburns made of feathers, which gives their neck and head a powerful look, which is why the breed is called that. The plumage on the legs outwardly resembles fluffy pants.
Shaggy birds from Pavlov
The village of Pavlovo in the Nizhny Novgorod region can boast of a shaggy breed of chickens, which was named after the place of their small homeland. These furry chickens appeared in the 18th century. Initially, when breeding the breed, the task was to obtain such poultry that would withstand frosty winter weather. Therefore, a lot of attention was paid to the appearance of chickens, their plumage density and color. As a result, Pavlovsk specimens became regular participants in agricultural exhibitions, regularly winning prizes due to their unique appearance.
Europeans often took Pavlovsky chickens as a genetic basis when breeding their own crosses with shaggy legs.
The Pavlovsk shaggy breed of chickens is more decorative than productive. As an adornment of an agricultural backyard, it can yield no more than 150-160 eggs, which are used mainly in incubation purposes for hatching chickens.
The Pavlovskaya shaggy meat direction is also not particularly developed. So, the rooster is gaining weight a little more than 2.0 and up to 2.5 kg, the chicken - up to 2.0 kg. However, the shaggy Pavlovsk breed boasts a high (up to 97-98) survival rate.
Chickens from Pavlov in the photo resemble pheasants in their appearance. Some see in the Pavlovsk lohmachi similarities with birds of prey. No wonder the poultry houses note that the character of Pavlovsk roosters is cocky and aggressive.
A distinctive feature of the representatives of this breed is undoubtedly their variegated plumage, which is folded into a crest on the head, and in a dense collar on the neck. According to the color of the feather, 2 breed lines are distinguished: silver and golden. The originality of the feather color lies in the fact that its main color smoothly turns into black at the ends.
Shaggy sultanka
Pavlov's birds became one of the parents of a snow-white sultanka with shaggy legs and a forelock head. As a result, in the newly bred breed with abundant plumage, exterior signs were fixed at the genetic level: pants on the legs, a lush crest on the head and a small beard.
The sultanka is considered a difficult bird for breeding, therefore, most often it acts as a decorative decoration of the poultry yard.
This breed stands out for its small size. Its representatives have a short body with a wide and lush tail set high and wings directed downward. The mass of roosters of the Sultanka breed reaches no more than 2.0 kg, laying hens - up to 1 kg as ordinary adolescent chickens. This decorative bird is not different and egg production indicators... For a year, a laying hen of the Sultanka breed is able to bring only up to 60 medium-sized eggs up to 45 g each, from which chickens are hatched. Moreover, after the bird reaches the age of 2 years, this low productivity decreases even more.
Eastern Cochinchins
Chickens of the Cochinchin breed were brought to Europeans from China and Vietnam, easily acclimatized in a new place and gained their popularity on poultry farms in Great Britain. At the end of the 19th century, representatives of the Cochinchin chicken breed with shaggy legs appeared on the territory of Russia.
According to historical facts, the first shaggy representatives of the Cochin were presented to the British queen.
Massively folded large cochinchins are distinguished by a strong body, muscular thoracic and dorsal regions. Roosters of the Cochinchin breed are distinguished by a magnificently folded tail and a small comb. Stocky Cochinchin hens are more squat, with a slight forward inclination of the body.
The Chinese bred dwarf Cochinchins, which duplicate their relatives in appearance and are able to bring meat and eggs.A separate breed is the dwarf curly-haired bred in zoos, in which the body and legs are covered with curly feathers.
Among the breed line, there are various colors:
- the black Cochinchin has a green tint in the plumage,
- the white plumage of birds has a silvery tint,
- blue Cochinchins are diluted with black head, collar zone, wings,
- the fawn plumage of birds in the tail region and on the wings casts bronze,
- partridge Cochinchins delight the eye with their colors, their plumage can be diluted with gold at the edges, a red collar, and black on the chest.
Among the positive characteristics of Cochinchins, poultry farmers note their unpretentiousness and phlegmatic character. The Cochinchin breed of chickens belongs to meat... The live weight of males is about 5 kg, chickens - up to 4 kg. Egg production rates are much more modest: up to hundreds of eggs per year.
Silk chinese
Another decorative breed of shaggy chickens was silk chinese bird, which appeared in China, and then became popular with poultry farmers in many countries of the world. Thanks to its unique decorative appearance, which she shows in the photo, the silk Chinese chicken has become a real decoration of gardens and zoos.
In the Chinese homeland, silk chicken is called a bird with raven bones, since their bones are black, their skin is dark brown, and their meat is dark gray. The reason for this pigmentation is the eumelanin pigment produced in large quantities.
The unusual appearance of plumage is provided due to the lack of adhesion on the feathers and the softness of the feather shaft. Feather color can be white, fawn, blue and black.
Small silk birds are not very productive. Males grow up to weigh no more than 1.5 kg, chickens - up to 0.8 kg. Laying hens annually provide up to hundreds of eggs weighing 35 g each. Most often, eggs serve as material for hatching chickens.
Faverole birds
Shaggy chickens faverolles - also owners of shaggy legs. They were bred in France in the place of the same name, where their name came from, on the basis of the Gudan breed with the use of Manta birds. Later, Cochinchin and Silver Dorkings were included in the breeding work. Initially, the Faverolle breed was a meat-producing breed, serving as a source of chicken meat for French restaurants. In the process of breeding, the appearance of faverol chickens changed and, after a while, they began to be kept not only for meat and eggs, but as an ornamental breed.
The faverolles came to Russia through Germany, where they underwent a series of selection changes in appearance.
The appearance of birds of the faverole breed is characterized by the presence of sideburns and lush feathers on the legs. They are coarsely built, the body is elongated, the short tail is raised. The color of the faveroli is mixed, and in roosters and chickens it is different:
- the dorsal region, the flight wing is white, the chest and tail feathers are black,
- chickens on top with a light red tint, below - white.
Fairly large faveroli grow up to 5 kg of roosters and up to 4 kg of hens. Laying hens begin to lay eggs from six months of age, up to 180 per year.