October
7, 1980
Dear Mr Plant,
Receiving
your letter I first thought my answer could fill a booklet. But I must be
brief. I am a married woman with a large interest in poultry, I am a breeder
of Old English Game fowl, Mechels fowl (Malines), Silkies, Old English Game
bantams, Dutch bantams and Houdans bantams. I am a poultry judge and in fall
and winter I do about 40 judgements here and in Belgium. I am a writer of
poultry articles in our monthly poultry magazine, and give some copy to the
ABA, I wrote two books on the subject and did make 3 monographs of bantams
breeds.
In
my first book I wrote 4 pages on the origin of domestic poultry, a source of
my information was a book of the late Mr A.L.Hagedoorn, a Dutch genetics
specialist also known in other countries. In 1927 he wrote a book on genetics
and breeding (animals and plants). All domestic animals come from wild ones.
Some of the animals and birds proved to become tame and the history of
domesticated animals you can find in the history of men. The men who tamed and
domesticated these animals must have a certain civilisation. The oldest fossil
rests of fowl are found in caverns in Belgium and France together with bones
of elephants, bears and hyenas. All those bone rests should date from the time
between the last ice-times, so that brings us more as 100,000 years ago. Fowl’s
fossils are found very often in old pre-historical towns and villages.
Hagedoorn
stated that to tame a bird is not the same as to domesticate a bird. Domestic
animals must multiply easy, should have a large production and must be kept
alive on a cheap and easy to obtain food and ask not too much care. The wild
Jungle Fowl lives in humid woods and eat insects, grubs and fruit like
berries. These birds should starve on a diet of chicken pellets. Domestic
fowls have an economic importance as grains and fishmeal. Domesticated animals
must have a tame character and make them easy to fence it. Most domesticated
animals and birds are very variable, that can prove that there was a crossing
of two different wild Jungle Fowls and there were youngster tamers as the wild
ancestors. Because there are domesticated fowls with the same color as the
Jungle Fowl, Darwin stated that this wild fowl was the ancestor of all our
domestic fowls. But the people who know really the Bankiva Jungle Fowl
understand that it is not possible that natives had a breed of Bankiva around
the hut, they are too shy and the people had no chicken wire. But there is a
wild Jungle Fowl that is tame of nature and can be kept as domesticated fowl,
the Gallus sonnerati. This bird can be brought by men in other
surroundings, in times of travelling to other hunting grounds and there can
have been a crossing with other wild Jungle Fowl male, as the Bankiva male,
disappearing later in the woods. The crosslings are fertile and crossings give
a large variation in the second generation. Modern geneticists suppose there
must have been a gigantic fowl, Gallus
giganteus, that is now extinct. This malayoid fowl weights around 4-7 kg
and could be an ancestor of the malayoid breeds of fowl.
In
forming the several breeds there are two main ways. First evolution. Think
about the bearded and/or crested breeds and the feathered legs. By forming
crests and beards, the combs and wattles become smaller. Houwink, a Dutch
breeder living in the first part of this century and earlier, wrote in 1909 a
book about it. After freezing off combs and wattles some crest forming is
possible and he stated that if only the best protected fowl could survive,
crested fowls were the best for China (Silkies) and Siberia (Siberian fowl
crested, bearded, feathered feet). But the second way in forming breeds that
was breeding, picking the best birds for eggs, or meat, or color, or fighting
etc. To make a choice in the birds to be mated is the best way to change
chickens. In early times real breeds were created by men in close
surroundings, in convents, close communities etc.
Thousands
of years ago in West Europe there was a breed of fowl, color must pencilled or
black red, white in earlobes, leaden blue legs, type as Bankiva’s but
larger. Descending breeds: Westfaals Totleger (rosecomb), Ost Frisians,
Groninger, Frisians, all with single combs, Assendelfter with rosecomb,
Braekel or Campine with single comb and the French Bresse (all pencilled).
Black reds were found in the Drenth and Ardenner fowl. All these breeds have a
lot in common and are known for centuries. All fowls are spread over trade and
caravan ways, on wars as food, to keep fighting games etc. There is written
that Phoenicians brought game fowl of the Caucasian breed from the
Mediterranean to the British Scilly Islands more as 2000 years ago. Each breed
has an own history.
We
have a Dutch Association for breeders of standard fowl, bantams, garden and
waterfowl (NHBD). There is a club foe the bantam breeders (DV) and a lot of
special breeds clubs. There are around 300 local clubs, members breeding fowl,
pigeons etc and rabbits etc. In USA there are 2 associations, APA
(large) and ABA (bantam).
Facts
about the Fowl in the Americas in the pre-Columbian period can be read in
history books. The invaders found no chickens, but only turkeys. In the North
part it is true that European immigrants take chickens with them on their
ships. But it is possible that before the big travels of Europeans in the 16th
and 17 and 18th century, natives of the islands of Polynesia and Oceania reach
Easter Island and with these people some chickens. In fact there were people
on these islands and domesticated birds and animals always are spread by men.
Not all history is written. From the beginning there could be a fowl in the
mountains of South America that is evolved in another way as the Bankiva in
Asia. Later these birds are been crossed with the Spanish birds which the
invaders took in with their ships. I read something about the story of
Heyerdahl in an article of Reader’s Digest. In my papers there is nothing
about Roggeveen. You can ask the University of Utrecht.
But
in the old Dutch Standard of Perfection (round 1960) there I found some old
history of the Araucanas. The chickens got their name of the region Arauca in
South Chile, the Indians there proved to be very brave and never submit to the
Spaniards. The first foreign chickens came into Chile by Señora Ines Suarez,
when coming from Peru. Later more chickens came from Spain, common fowl and
game fowl. In the 17th century (before Roggeveen) Dutch pirates commanded by
Olivier van Nordt came and brought in Asiatic fowl. These pirates, being
driven away in the beginning of the 17th century from the Sonda Islands by the
Dutch Government, provisioned at Bali and took with them live fowls and pigs
and exchanged these with the Araucana Indians for other things. The Dutch
pirates stayed for about 25 years in Chile and attacked Spanish marchant ships
which went home from the Silent Sea via the South Cape to the Atlantic Ocean.
So
Chile had long before other parts of America Fowl with much variation. But the
blue shells and ear bussels make these fowls remarkable.
Mr
Van Gink, who was a vice president of the World Poultry Science Association
and a famous poultry artist, I knew him in person and he died 10 years ago. In
1967 he wrote an article on this subject. In the poultry history there is a
note about Araucanas laying blue eggs from 1854. In 1907 a German emigrant
from Chile took some Araucanas to Germany. There are found illustrations of
fowl with ear bussels, made by missionaries dated from the early time of the
Spanish invaders. The origin of the blue egg-shells of chickens is not found
now, may be it can be found in South America or one of the Islands for the
coast, all or not far in the Ocean (Van Gink).
I
think if there was a report letter of Roggeveen about the egg color of the
fowl he found at Easter Island, Mr Van Gink should have known this.
I
had a very busy time and it is October 19th, but I continue the answer of your
letter. Let us pick up the Cochin or Pekin Bantam.
In
1860 British soldiers took them to England as spoils of war. The birds are
founded in the Chinese forbidden town,
the place were the Chinese Emperor lived, and were given to the Queen
Victoria. These little immigrants from Peking had nothing to do with the very
large Cochin Chine Fowl, there is no relation and the bantams are not
miniatures of the large Cochins. There are differences in type, the bantams
stand lower and are fuller feathered, as round featherballs.
The
head is lower as the tail and they are so small and came to Europe as an
original bird. Breeders tried to led them like more alike (large Cochin and
Pekin bantams) but this did not worked out at all. Houwink stated around 1911
that the Siberian fowl was crested and bearded and had feathered legs. The
were several feather colors, they were good layers, moderate meat fowl, became
broody, very hardy and easy to breed. Can made it a champion.
In
the Netherlands you can find Cochin bantams on each large show. This week I
had to judge some birds in Belgium and there were white, black, blue and
pearl-gray Cochins, the latter to be the best. Also there was one with curled
feathers. White Cochin bantams have always been very good, but the past years
there were a lot of pearl-gray winners - this is a light blue color that
breeds true. The Cochin bantam has to be very full feathered to win, the leg
and feet feathers very full. By crossing black and white there are birds with
greenish legs, this is not allowed for the white birds, the blacks are allowed
to have dark legs but must have yellow soles. Other colors are partridge,
cuckoo, birchen and spotted black and buff. I think we have here very good
winners, also in Germany. In the USA there are also very good Cochin bantams
and it is true that after the war Cochin bantams from USA came to Europe. The
British Cochin bantams differ a little, there is less fluff. But there are the
same standards for this breed. At the large Ornithophilia
show of young birds and animals at Utrecht from 3-5 October 1980, 35 Cochin
bantams were entered.
It
is October 28th now and I found an hour to finish this letter. When I read it
over I think I mixed the answers on your questions a little. The reason is I
worked on it several times. I think it is understandable. I did not make a
real article on Cochin bantams because that should be a repetition of
standards, which should be alike all over the world. You know your standard.
You can do me a favour and send me a copy of the Pekin
Newsletter.
A
Chinese proverb tells: 1 picture is worth more as 1000 words. I send you
enclosed some pictures from our bantam magazine and a German poultry paper
with good Cochin bantams. I can use an envelope of the Dutch Bantam Club, I am
the vice-president and I give answers on questions of the members. I also give
articles for the newsletters.
I
reread your letter for the last time and found at last something about the
Vierländerhoen in the book of Houwink (4 parts) and this fowl was rare in
1909 and in modern German books from 1920 till now I find nothing about this
breed. Houwink stated it was a normal (Bankivoid) fowl with a single comb. I
don’t know the place Vierlanden. But I found a note in the German Standard
about the Ramelsloher: since 1870 bred from the robust Vierländer Landhuhn in
the village of Ramelsloh in the circle of Hamburg near Hamburg. So the
Vierländer is extinct now but is the ancestor of the Ramelsloher, which is a
fowl like the Andalusian, but with white feathers. The Andalusian is also used
with the creation of the Ramelsloher. At last I found a picture of a
Ramelsloher, as you see a common fowl with leaden blue legs and beak, dark
eyes and a red single comb, blue/white earlobes.
I
do hope the information in this letter helps you a little. I have 10 Standard of Perfection, Dutch (2), English, USA (3), German,
Belgium, European and Suisse, and a fair number of old and newer poultry
books. I have a niece and my husband has a cousin in Australia, the latter
told me there is nothing of poultry books in your country. If there is, I
could exchange it with a book of my.
Sincerely,