Houdan chicken

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Houdan
A black mottled hen
Other namesFrench: Poule de Houdan
Country of originFrance
StandardStandard-sized (in French)
Bantam (in French)
Usemeat, eggs, fancy
Traits
Weight
  • Male:
    • Standard: 2.5–3 kg
    • Bantam: 900 g
  • Female:
    • Standard: 2–2.5 kg
    • Bantam: 800 g
Egg colourwhite
Comb type
  • shaped like a butterfly or oak-leaf
  • Canada, USA: v-shaped
Classification
APAcontinental[1]
ABAall other comb clean legged[1]
EEyes[2]
PCGBrare soft feather: heavy[3]
Notes
five-toed
Houdan pair, historic illustration from the Geflügel-Album of Jean Bungartz, 1885
the head of a black cock, with a butterfly-shaped red comb
Detail of the head of a cock, showing the characteristic butterfly comb

The Houdan or Poule de Houdan is an old French

crested chicken group, is muffed and bearded, has an unusual leaf-shaped comb
, and has five toes on each foot rather than the usual four.

History

The Houdan is a traditional French breed; its origins are unknown. It was described in detail by

Crèvecœur, Dorking and Polish have been mentioned as possible "ancestors".[4]
: 128 

It was first imported into England in 1850,[7]: 121  and to North America in 1865, where it appeared in the first edition of the American Standard of Perfection in 1874.[8]: 121 

Characteristics

The Houdan is crested, muffed and bearded, has an unusual leaf-shaped comb, and has five toes on each foot rather than the usual four. The earlobes and wattles are small, and may be mostly or completely hidden by the feathering.[9]: 155  The comb is leaf- or butterfly-shaped in European and Australian standards;[9]: 155  in the United States it is v-shaped.[8]: 122 

The most common colour variety, and the only one recognised in the United Kingdom, is mottled (or caillouté, "pebbled" in France), a pattern of black with white spotting. In the past there was a lighter variation of the mottled pattern; in the 1800s, it may have been more similar to the splashy mixture of white and black which today is called exchequer.[6] Three other colour varieties are recognised in France: black, pearl-grey, and white.[4]: 131  In the Poultry Standard for Europe of the Entente Européenne d'Aviculture et de Cuniculture the black mottled, cuckoo, pearl-grey and white are recognised; a black variety is listed but unrecognised.[2] The white variety was developed in the United States.[10]: 2  Other colours were known in the past, including blue mottled and red.[11]: 4 

Although it is classified by the

Second World War,[10] and developed further in Germany and in France.[4]
: 129 

Use

The Houdan was formerly a dual-purpose fowl, kept for both eggs and meat: for part of the nineteenth century it was one of the principal meat breeds of France.[

endangered breed, and is reared primarily for showing.[4]
: 128 

Hens may give some 140–160 eggs per year; they are white, and not large.[14]: 152 

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Houdan chicken.
  1. ^ a b APA Recognized Breeds and Varieties: As of January 1, 2012. American Poultry Association. Archived 4 November 2017.
  2. ^ a b Liste des races et variétés homologuée dans les pays EE (28.04.2013). Entente Européenne d’Aviculture et de Cuniculture. Archived 16 June 2013.
  3. ^ Breed Classification. Poultry Club of Great Britain. Archived 12 June 2018.
  4. ^
    ISBN 9782855573861
    .
  5. ^ Charles Emile Jacque (1858). Le poulailler: monographie des poules indigènes et exotiques, aménagements, croisements élève, hygiène, maladies, etc. (in French). Paris: Librairie agricole de la maison rustique.
  6. ^ a b Charles Lee (1874). A Practical Guide to the Breeding, Feeding, Rearing and General Management of the Houdan Fowl. London: W. Hawkins.
  7. ISBN 9781405156424
    .
  8. ^
    ISBN 9781580176675
    .
  9. ^
    ISBN 9781119509141
    .
  10. ^ a b Luuk Hans (February 2009). Vive La France. Aviculture Europe. 5 (1), article 9. Accessed May 2022.
  11. ^ Craig Russell (2000). Old French Breeds: Houdans and Crevecoeurs. SPPA Bulletin. 5 (2):3–4. Society for Preservation of Poultry Antiquities.
  12. ISBN 9780715325674
    .
  13. ^ Standard de la Houdan (in French). Houdan–Faverolles Club de France. Accessed August 2014.
  14. ISBN 9780793806010
    .
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