AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

I take it upon myself to commence this topic and go into further detail as it has been recently suggested in another post on the subject.

When making a post on your specialised breed using the below headings please provide information pertaining to your breed under these headings:

BREED
DESCRIPTION
HISTORY/ORIGINS
BREED COLOUR
BREED PURPOSE eg EGG, MEAT, DUAL PURPOSE, ORNAMENTAL
BREED SIZE eg BANTAM, STANDARD, LARGE 52
BREED TEMPERAMENT/SUITABILITY
HEIGHT/WEIGHT OF COCKEREL/PULLET HEN/ROOSTER
BROODINESS
FERTILITY/HABITABILITY
COMB eg SINGLE, PEA, STRAWBERRY, CUSHION, WALNUT, BUTTERCUP, V SHAPED, ROSE
EGG PRODUCTIVITY (ON AVERAGE HOW MANY EGGS LAID EACH YEAR)
EGG SIZE/WEIGHT eg SMALL, MEDIUM, LARGE and or AVERAGE WEIGHT
EGG COLOUR
RELEVANT LINKS TO CLUB ETC

Thank You, kindly

ARAUCANA

BREED: ARAUCANA

DESCRIPTION: Araucanas are an intelligent, alert, active and reasonably quiet breed. They are either rumpless without tail feathers or rumped with tail feather. They have muffs, beards and large ear tufts. Heads should be small, with undaunted eyes and a strong break. Their wings are large and powerful.

BREED CLASSIFICATION: Light Breed, Soft Feather

HISTORY/ORIGINS: First discovered by the Spanish in the 1500's and named after the indegious Araucana tribe where they where found in the Northern Chilean Provence of Arauca. They were originally bred from the Collonca and the Quetro.

BREED COLOUR: Black, Blue, Cuckoo, Lavender, White, Old English Game Colours

BREED PURPOSE: Eggs/Ornamental

BREED SIZE: Bantam or Standard

BREED TEMPERAMENT/SUITABILITY: Araucana's are full of personality and attitude. They are a hardy low maintenance bird, but can be flighty, roosters can also develop aggressive streaks when fully mature, so must be handled often when young. They adapt well in most environments.

WEIGHT OF COCK/HEN:

STANDARD:
Cock: 2.70 - 3.20 kg
Hen: 2.25 - 2.70 kg

BANTAM:
Cock: 850 - 960 g
Hen: 790 - 910 g

BROODINESS: Average, but they make excellent mothers.

FERTILITY/HABITABILITY: Roosters are very active and highly fertile. 18- 21 day incubation period. The tuft gene can be lethal as two copies of the tufted gene can kill a developing chick in its shell.

COMB: Small Pea Comb

WATTLES: Minimal or None

LEGS: Medium Strong Legs, Feather free shanks

FEET: 4 Toes

EGG PRODUCTIVITY 180 - 190 Eggs Per Year, Eggs are lower in cholesterol.

EGG SIZE/WEIGHT: Small To Medium; Average Weight 60g

EGG COLOUR: Sky Blue to Olive Green, only breed that the outer pigment permeates all the way through to the inside of the shell.

RELEVANT LINKS TO CLUBS ETC
http://araucanabreedersgroup.webs.com/
http://www.crestedbreeds.com/crested_br ... ucana.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araucana

MINORCA

BREED: Minorca

DESCRIPTION: Minorca's are the largest of the Mediterranean class of fowl with the roosters weighing in at 4.1kg. Minorca's mature quickly & begin crowing sooner then other breeds. Minorca's can quickly be identify with a large white ear patch.

BREED CLASSIFICATION: Light, soft feather

HISTORY/ORIGINS: Minorca's are a breed originating from Spain & were bred as an egg production bird.

BREED COLOUR: Black, Blue, Barred, Buff, White

BREED PURPOSE: Egg production

BREED SIZE: Bantam & Standard

BREED TEMPERAMENT/SUITABILITY: Minorca's are friendly but can be flighty. They dont bear confinement well

WEIGHT OF COCK/HEN:

STANDARD:
Cock: 3.2 - 4.1kg
Hen: 2.7 - 3.6kg

BANTAM:
Cock: 960g
Hen: 850g

BROODINESS: Seldom go broody.

FERTILITY/HABITABILITY:

COMB: Large size comb

WATTLES: Large

LEGS: Strong, featherless

FEET: 4 toes

EGG PRODUCTIVITY: High, can lay 6 or 7 eggs a week

EGG SIZE/WEIGHT: Big eggs

EGG COLOUR: White

RELEVANT LINKS TO CLUBS ETC:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minorca_(chicken)
http://www.poultryclub.org/minorcaclub/

The Australorp



It is a large, soft-feathered bird, with white toenails, black legs and beak, and a moderately large and upright single comb, with five distinct points. The Australorp is a hardy, docile, and a good egg-layer as well as meat bird.

History

Australorp hen
The original stock used in the development of the Australorp was imported to Australia from England out of the Black Orpington yards of William Cook and Joseph Partington in the period from 1890 to the early 1900s with Rhode Island Red. Local breeders used this stock together with judicious out-crossings of Minorca, White Leghorn and Langshan blood to improve the utility features of the imported Orpingtons. There is even a report of some Plymouth Rock blood also being used. The emphasis of the early breeders was on utility features. At this time, the resulting birds were known as Australian Black Orpingtons (Austral-orp).

The origin of the name "Australorp" seems to be shrouded in as much controversy as the attempts to obtain agreement between the States over a suitable national Standard. The earliest claim to the name was made by one of poultry fancy's institutions, William Wallace Scott, before the First World War. From 1925 Wal Scott set to work to have Australorp recognized as a breed with the Poultry Society as he developed the breed. Equally as persuasive a claim came in 1919 from Arthur Harwood who suggested that the "Australian Laying Orpingtons" be named "Australs". The letters "orp" were suggested as a suffix to denote the major breed in the fowl's development. A further overseas claim to the name came from Britain's W. Powell-Owen who drafted the British Standard for the breed in 1921 following the importation of the "Australian Utility Black Orpingtons." It is certain that the name "Australorp" was being used in the early 1920s when the breed was launched internationally. In 1929, the Australorp was admitted to the Standard of Perfection.

Colours & Varieties
The Australorp, like many breeds of chicken, comes in both bantam and standard size and multiple colours.
The Australorp is currently has two recognized colours according to the Australian Poultry Standard; black and blue. A third colour, white, is recognized by the Australorp Club of Australia but not the Australian Poultry Standard, as of the current (1st) edition of the Standard. The black Australorp is the most common, and has glossy black feathers and a lustrous green sheen (known as beetle green). The blue Australorp has a grey-blue plumage and the white Australorp is a pure white bird.

Eggs
It was the egg laying performance of Australorps which attracted world attention when in 1922-23 a team of six hens set a world record of 1857 eggs at an average of 309.5 eggs per hen for a 365 consecutive day trial. It must be remembered that these figures were achieved without the lighting regimes of the modern intensive shed. Such performances had importation orders flooding in from England, United States of America, South Africa, Canada and Mexico. Well looked after Australorps lay approximately 250 light-brown eggs per year. A new record was set when a hen laid 364 eggs in 365 days. They are also known to be good nest sitters and mothers, making them one of the most exceptional large, heritage utility breeds of chicken.

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australorp

well done!!!

Excellent