The is a German breed of domestic

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adu ...

from the

Bergisches Land The Bergisches Land (, ''Berg Country'') is a low mountain range region within the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, east of Rhine river, south of the Ruhr. The landscape is shaped by woods, meadows, rivers and creeks and contains ...

, in the state of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...

in western Germany. It is named for its unusually long crow, up to five times as long as that of other breeds, and belongs to the group of long-crowing chicken breeds, which are found from south-east Europe to the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

History

The Bergische Kräher has been bred in the

for hundreds of years, and there are various myths about its origins. It was probably brought there from south-east Europe or the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

at the time of the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...

, and may have been spread through the area by

Cistercian monk The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

s. It is closely related to the Bergische Schlotterkamm. Crowing contests were held for the birds, and they were

selectively bred Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant m ...

for their crowing ability. A

breed association Breed clubs are associations or clubs with activities centered on a single, specific breed of a particular species of domesticated animal. The purpose of the association will vary with the species of animal and the goals and needs of the members ...

, the Kräherzüchtervereinigung, was founded in 1884, and the first

breed standard In animal husbandry or animal fancy, a breed standard is a description of the characteristics of a hypothetical or ideal example of a breed. The description may include physical or morphological detail, genetic criteria, or criteria of athletic ...

dates from 1885. Today the Bergische Kräher is a rare breed. In 2001 it was an "endangered breed of the year" of the

Gesellschaft zur Erhaltung alter und gefährdeter Haustierrassen The or GEH is a German national association for the conservation of historic and endangered domestic animal breeds. History The GEH was founded on 5 December 1981 in the Rottal, in Lower Bavaria in southern Germany. It has about 2100 mem ...

, and is listed in category I: , "extremely endangered", on the

Rote Liste The , full name , is a red list of threatened breeds of domestic animal published annually by the Gesellschaft zur Erhaltung alter und gefährdeter Haustierrassen, the German national association for the conservation of historic and endangere ...

of that organisation. In 2009, 77 cocks and 337 hens were recorded; in 2013 the total population was 329.

Characteristics

Only one plumage colouring is recognised, gold-laced black. Hen birds are black with some gold markings on the wings and breast; cocks have gold neck-hackles and maroon markings on the wings. The black colour variety is extinct, black-silver coloured birds are extremely rare. Like the Bergische Schlotterkamm, the Bergische Kräher shows typical broad lacing ("") of the breast feathers. Cocks weigh and hens The

comb A comb is a tool consisting of a shaft that holds a row of teeth for pulling through the hair to clean, untangle, or style it. Combs have been used since prehistoric times, having been discovered in very refined forms from settlements dating ba ...

is single, the earlobes are white, and the legs are slate-blue.

Use

The Bergische Kräher is a dual-purpose breed, with good meat qualities. Hens lay about 130 white

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

s per year, with an average weight of ; they have little tendency to

broodiness Broodiness is the action or behavioral tendency to sit on a clutch of eggs to incubate them, often requiring the non-expression of many other behaviors including feeding and drinking.Homedes Ranquini, J. y Haro-García, F. Zoogenética. 1ra. edi ...

. Cock crowing contests with Bergische Krähers have been a sport in the Bergische Land for centuries. Since 1923, the breed society has organised annual crowing contests on Ascension Thursday. In these – unlike in most traditional cock crowing contests in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium – the crow is judged for its length and beauty, rather than for its frequency. Wilhelma Haushuhn 2.jpg, Hen Dobbelung bij haan.jpg, The typical broad lacing (''Dobbelung'') of the breast feathers Tab47 Hühner (Geflügel-Album, Jean Bungartz, 1885).jpg, Historical Illustration,

Jean Bungartz Jean Bungartz (6 May 1854 – 15 September 1934) was a German animal painter, author and book illustrator. Bungartz founded the Hamburger Verein zur Förderung reiner Hunderassen, the Hamburg society for the promotion of pure-bred dogs, in ...

, 1885

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergische Kraher Chicken breeds Chicken breeds originating in Germany Animal breeds on the GEH Red List Long-crowing chickens