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,