Conservation status | critical [1] : 56 |
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Other names |
|
Country of origin | Belgium |
Traits | |
Weight | |
Egg colour | cream-coloured |
Comb type | single |
Classification | |
EE | yes [2] |
|
The Coucou des Flandres, Dutch : Vlaamse Koekoek, is a critically-endangered Belgian breed of domestic chicken. It may have a common origin with the Malines from the area of Mechelen (French : Malines), in the province of Antwerp in Flanders, or may indeed represent the original type of that breed before it was cross-bred in the nineteenth century with various different types of imported Oriental chicken. By the time of the First World War it had disappeared; it was re-created in the years before the Second World War. It is critically endangered in Belgium, but more numerous in Picardy in France. It may also be known as the Poulet de Dendre, for the Dender river in its area of origin. [3]
The origins of the Coucou des Flandres are unknown. It may have existed for hundreds of years. It is apparently related to the Malines from the area of Mechelen (French : Malines), in the province of Antwerp in Flanders. It may perhaps represent the original type of the Malines breed before it was cross-bred in the nineteenth century with various different types of imported Oriental chicken including birds brought from Shanghai, China, to the zoological gardens of Antwerp as well as Brahma, Langshan and Cochin birds. [1] : 49
The Coucou des Flandres had disappeared by the time of the First World War, but was re-created in the years before the Second World War. It is critically endangered in Belgium, where in 2005 a census found only 53 birds. [1] : 49 It is more numerous in northern Picardy in France. [4]
The Coucou des Flandres has only one plumage variety, cuckoo. [2] The comb is single; the legs are pinkish-white and unfeathered. [1] : 49
Coucou des Flandres hens lay about 150 cream-coloured eggs per year, with a weight of about 60 g. [1] : 56 They are good mothers and good sitters. [1] : 49
Mechelen is a city and municipality in the province of Antwerp in the Flemish Region of Belgium. The municipality comprises the city of Mechelen proper, some quarters at its outskirts, the hamlets of Nekkerspoel (adjacent) and Battel, as well as the villages of Walem, Heffen, Leest, Hombeek, and Muizen. The river Dyle (Dijle) flows through the city, hence it is often referred to as the Dijlestad.
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The Malines, Dutch: Mechelse Koekoek, is a Belgian breed of large domestic chicken. It originates from the area of Mechelen, in the province of Antwerp in Flanders, for which it is named. It was created in the nineteenth century by cross-breeding local cuckoo-patterned farm chickens with various different types of imported Oriental chicken. With the Jersey Giant, it is among the heaviest of all chicken breeds. It is valued for the quality of its meat, which is pale in colour and fine-textured.
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