Mechelen

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Mechelen
BDRG - Standard No.
origin Bred from cuckolded Belgian farm fowls and Asian breeds
year 1898
colour cranked; White
Weight Tap 4.5 kg

Hen 3.0 kg

Laying performance 140-160 eggs / year
Eggshell color ivory to dark brown
Egg weight by 65 g
List of breeds of chicken
"Mechelner Cuckoo" (R. Kramer, 1899)

The Malines chicken , even cuckoo hawk or Mechelen cuckoo ( NDL. Mechelse koekoek , fr. Coucou de Malines ) is a domestic chicken breed that according to their origin from the region of the Flemish city of Mechelen is named. It embodies the meat chicken type in a particularly ideal form and was one of the most important economic breeds before the modern fattening hybrids were bred for poultry fattening .

history

One of the early attractions of the Antwerp Zoo , which opened in 1843, was exotic chicken breeds, especially Brahma chickens from Southeast Asia . The zoo offered local breeders the opportunity to crossbreed Brahma chickens, Langshans and Cochins with local breeds. The Mechlin cuckoo emerged from these attempts at crossing. The breed standard was established in Belgium in 1898 . The Mechlin chicken is assigned to the dual purpose breeds , as they not only have a high fattening ability , but also their laying performance can be considerable.

After the Second World War , the population fell to a few dozen animals due to epidemics and increasing industrialization of chicken breeding. In 1979 the “Speciaalclub voor de Mechelse Koekoek” was founded in Belgium. Since the 1980s the stock has grown again. In Germany the "SV Mechelner" breeds and promotes the Mechelner chicken.

Today's meaning

Similar to the also very large Cochins and the Brahma, the Mechelner are considered to be a breed that is particularly suitable for self-sufficient people who place value on eggs and a good roast when keeping chickens .

The Mechelen chicken is valued as a delicacy in Western European gastronomy and is usually found on the menu as "Coucou de Malines".

The so-called Red List of endangered livestock breeds has the Mechlin chicken in Category II (endangered).

literature

  • Robert Nouwen. Van Brussels kieken tot culinaire delicatesse. Poularde de Bruxelles, het Mechels hoen, en de Belgian pluimveesector tijdens de 19de en de 20th eeuw. Eigen Schoon en De Brabander 2003
  • Toni De Coninck, Julien van Remoortere, Veerle De Pooter, Marc Declercq, Tony Le Duc: België à la carte: Belgische sterrenchefs koken met streekproducten. Lannoo, Tielt, 2005.

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