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Poultry are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of harvesting animal products such as meat, eggs or feathers. The practice of raising poultry is known as poultry farming. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes. The term also includes waterfowls of the family Anatidae but does not include wild birds hunted for food known as game or quarry.
The chicken is a large and round short-winged bird, domesticated from the red junglefowl of Southeast Asia around 8,000 years ago. Most chickens are raised for food, providing meat and eggs; others are kept as pets or for cockfighting.
The Silkie is a breed of chicken named for its atypically fluffy plumage, which is said to feel like silk and satin. The breed has several other unusual qualities, such as black skin and bones, blue earlobes, and five toes on each foot, whereas most chickens have only four. They are often exhibited in poultry shows, and also appear in various colors. In addition to their distinctive physical characteristics, Silkies are well known for their calm and friendly temperament. It is among the most docile of poultry. Hens are also exceptionally broody, and care for young well. Although they are fair layers themselves, laying only about three eggs a week, they are commonly used to hatch eggs from other breeds and bird species due to their broody nature. Silkie chickens have been bred to have a wide variety of colors which include but are not limited to: Black, Blue, Buff, Partridge, Splash, White, Lavender, Paint and Porcelain.
The Leghorn, Italian: Livorno or Livornese, is a breed of chicken originating in Tuscany, in central Italy. Birds were first exported to North America in 1828 from the Tuscan port city of Livorno, on the western coast of Italy. They were initially called "Italians", but by 1865 the breed was known as "Leghorn", the traditional anglicisation of "Livorno". The breed was introduced to Britain from the United States in 1870. White Leghorns are commonly used as layer chickens in many countries of the world. Other Leghorn varieties are less common.
The Plymouth Rock is an American breed of domestic chicken. It was first seen in Massachusetts in the nineteenth century and for much of the early twentieth century was the most widely kept chicken breed in the United States. It is a dual-purpose bird, raised both for its meat and for its brown eggs. It is resistant to cold, easy to manage, and a good sitter.
The Hamburg, Dutch: Hollands hoen, German: Hamburger, is a breed of chicken which is thought to have originated in Holland sometime prior to the fourteenth century. The name may be spelled Hamburgh in the United Kingdom and in Australia.
The Norfolk Grey is a utility breed of chicken that originated near the city of Norwich, in Norfolk, England, in around 1910. The breed was originally created by Frederick W Myhill of Hethel, Wymondham under the name Black Maria. It is a rare breed which is currently considered to be at risk by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.
The Legbar is a rare British auto-sexing breed of chicken. It was created in the early twentieth century by Reginald Crundall Punnett and Michael Pease at the Genetical Institute of Cambridge University. They cross-bred American barred Plymouth Rock birds with brown Leghorns and created the gold and silver colour varieties. Pease created a cream Legbar by cross-breeding these with white Leghorns; later crossing with Araucanas caused this to have a crest and to lay blue or blue-green eggs.
The Sebright is a British breed of bantam chicken. It is a true bantam – a miniature bird with no corresponding large version – and is one of the oldest recorded British bantam breeds. It is named after Sir John Saunders Sebright, who created it as an ornamental breed by selective breeding in the early nineteenth century.
The Naked Neck is a breed of chicken that is naturally devoid of feathers on its neck and vent. The breed is also called the Transylvanian Naked Neck, as well as the Turken. The name "Turken" arose from the mistaken idea that the bird was a hybrid of a chicken and the domestic turkey. Naked Necks are fairly common in Europe today, but are rare in North America and very common in South America. The trait for a naked neck is a dominant one controlled by one gene and is fairly easy to introduce into other breeds, however these are hybrids rather than true Naked Necks, which is a breed recognized by the American Poultry Association since 1965, it was introduced in Britain in the 1920s. There are other breeds of naked necked chicken, such as the French naked neck, which is often confused with the Transylvanian, and the naked necked gamefowl.
The Campine is a breed of domestic chicken originating in the northern part of Belgium. It is named for the Campine region of north-eastern Belgium and south-eastern Netherlands. It was known there as the Kempisch Hoen.
The American Poultry Association (APA) is the oldest poultry organization in the North America. It was founded in 1873, and incorporated in Indiana in 1932.
The American Standard of Perfection is the official breed standard for the poultry fancy in North America. First published in 1874 by the American Poultry Association, the Standard of Perfection classifies and describes the standard physical appearance, coloring and temperament for all recognized breeds of poultry, including chickens, ducks, turkeys, and geese. The current edition was published in 2015.
The Chantecler is a breed of chicken originating in Canada. The Chantecler was developed in the early 20th century, at the Abbey of Notre-Dame du Lac in Oka, Quebec. It is extremely cold-resistant, and is suitable for both egg and meat production.
The Java is a breed of chicken originating in the United States. Despite the breed's name, a reference to the island of Java, it was developed in the U.S. from chickens of unknown Asian extraction. It is one of the oldest American chickens, forming the basis for many other breeds, but is critically endangered today. Javas are large birds with a sturdy appearance. They are hardy, and are well-suited for both meat and egg production, especially by small-scale farms, homesteads, and backyard keepers.
The Ixworth is an English breed of white domestic chicken. It is named for the village of Ixworth in Suffolk, where it was created in 1932. It was bred as fast-growing high-quality meat breed with reasonable laying abilities.
The Ermellinata di Rovigo is a modern Italian breed of dual-purpose chicken. It originates in the city of Rovigo in the Veneto region of north-eastern Italy, from which it takes its name. It was created between 1959 and 1965, principally from Sussex and Rhode Island Red parentage.
Chick sexing is the method of distinguishing the sex of chickens and other hatchlings, usually by a trained person called a chick sexer or chicken sexer. Chicken sexing is practiced mostly by large commercial hatcheries to separate female chicks or "pullets" from the males or "cockerels". The females and a limited number of males kept for meat production are then put on different feeding programs appropriate for their commercial roles.
Auto-sexing breeds of poultry are those in which the sex of newly-hatched chicks can be determined from the colour and markings of the down. Some breeds of chicken, of goose and of domestic pigeon have this characteristic. The idea of such a breed is due to Reginald Punnett, who created the first auto-sexing chicken breed, the Cambar, at the Genetical Institute in Cambridge in 1928.
References
- ↑ Nall, Joshua; Taub, Liba; Willmoth, Frances (2019-08-22). The Whipple Museum of the History of Science. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-49827-2.
- ↑ "Greenfire Farms - Auto-Sexing Chicken Breeds". greenfirefarms.com. Retrieved 2023-03-25.
- ↑ Poultry Science. Poultry Science Association. 1969.
- ↑ McCallum, Sophie (2020-03-30). Rare British Breeds: Endangered Species in the UK. White Owl. ISBN 978-1-5267-6366-2.
- ↑ Robinson, leonard (1948). Modern Poultry Husbandary.
- 1 2 "Autosexing: Cambar ‐ The Poultry Club". www.poultryclub.org. Retrieved 2023-03-25.