Speckled chickens

Gallus turcicus on a picture by Ulisse Aldrovandi , around 1600

Speckled hens are a group of mostly European chicken breeds , which have a typical silver-black or gold-black pen drawing.

features

Gold-speckled hamburgers

Mottling

Sprinkles in "wheat form"

The plumage drawing is striking, in which the feathers have a typical ribbon-shaped drawing. The exact form of this drawing depends on the breed and is specified in the breeding standards. However, the hens' necks do not show any mottling. Depending on the breed and age of the roosters, the mottling may be completely absent. Most speckled chicken breeds usually have a silver and a gold variant. The Friesian chicken with over ten speckled colors showed that more variations are possible .

Egg and fattening performance

Speckled chicken breeds are usually among the good egg producers with an annual output of over 200 eggs. In contrast, they are relatively light and poor meat producers. An exception is the Groninger Seagull, whose rooster can weigh over 3.5 kg.

History and dissemination

Distribution of the speckled chickens blue-violet = Brakel, red = campiner, green = speckled hamburger , yellow = Assendelfter, purple = Friesian chicken, gray = Groninger seagull, orange = East Frisian seagull , blue = Westphalian totleger

The oldest illustration of a speckled chicken is in a book by Ulise Aldrovandi. He represented a rooster and a hen with the distinctive drawing. His name was Gallus turcicus , which means "Turkish chicken". It turns out that this chicken loft was known in the 17th century and an origin in Anatolia is probably possible. In any case, the speckled chickens belong to the common land fowls in Western Europe from that time on. The concentration of the races on the continental North Sea coast, from Flanders to East Frisia, is striking . Furthermore, one can find old sprinkle breeds in Brabant and Westphalia . The shape of the speckled chicken breeds corresponds to that of the country chicken.

Chicken breeds with speckles drawing

• Fayoumi, from Egypt
• Assendelfter , from the province of North Holland , with a rose comb
• Chaam's chicken, related to the Braekel chicken
• Braekelhuhn , with banded drawing, from East Flanders
• Friesian chicken , from the province of Friesland
• Groninger gull, relatively heavy breed from the province of Groningen
• Hamburger , originated in Holland , Northern Germany and England , known in the Netherlands as "Dutch Chicken", with a rose comb
• Campiner from the Kempen ; Very popular in Great Britain in the chicken feather variant
• East Frisian Seagull , from East Frisia
• Sicilians, from Italy , with a cup comb
• Westphalian totleger , from Westphalia , with rose comb
• Zottegem'sches chicken, a Braekel subspecies.

Web link

• sprenkelhuhn.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Overview of laying and fattening performance on sprenkelhuhn.com, accessed on September 22, 2016
2. ^ Charles Darwin: The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication. 1868, p. 247.