The Bergische Schlotterkamm is an old and endangered German

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

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 adult m ...

. It originates 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 over ...

, 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 States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

in western Germany, and is one of three chicken breeds from that area, the others being the

Bergische Kräher The is a German breed of domestic chicken from the Bergisches Land, in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia 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 gro ...

and the German creeper ("Krüper").

History

The breed has been known since the eighteenth century and is probably the result of crossing imported Spanish birds with local

stock. At the beginning of the nineteenth century the breed experienced competition from imported multi-purpose breeds such as the

Minorca Menorca or Minorca (from la, Insula Minor, , smaller island, later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Majorca. Its capita ...

, and became almost extinct. 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 o ...

, the Vereinigung der Züchter Bergischer Hühnerrassen, was established in 1916. Today the Bergische Schlotterkamm is an endangered 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 memb ...

; it 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 2013 the total population was around 250. A bantam version of the Schlotterkamm was created in the late twentieth century by

cross-breeding A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. ''Crossbreeding'', sometimes called "designer crossbreeding", is the process of breeding such an organism, While crossbreeding is used to main ...

bantam Bergische Kräher and Thüringer Barthuhn birds. It is found in one plumage colour only, Silver-laced Black, and is even rarer than the full-sized Schlotterkamm.

Characteristics

The Schlotterkamm is a medium-sized dual-purpose chicken. The shape is long and somewhat rectangular. It has a single

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 ...

which flops from one side to the other; it is this that gave the breed its name. Four plumage colours – Cuckoo, Silver-laced Black, Gold-laced Black and Black – have been recognised since 1896. The old Cuckoo variant had virtually disappeared by 1922, and the white Schlotterkamm disappeared as the Leghorn breed became more popular.

Use

The Schlotterkamm is a dual-purpose breed, reared both for eggs and for meat. Hens lay about 150 eggs per year; the eggs are white and weigh about The hens 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 ...

References

{{Chicken breeds of Germany Chicken breeds Chicken breeds originating in Germany Animal breeds on the GEH Red List