The Lakenvelder or Lakenfelder is a
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 ...
from the
Nordrhein-Westfalen area of Germany and neighbouring areas of the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
. It was first recorded in 1727.
History
The origins of the Lakenvelder are not clear. Two different histories are proposed: it may have originated in Holland, where it is documented from 1727, and its name may derive from that of the village of
Lakerveld, in the municipality of
Zederik
Zederik () is a former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covered an area of of which is water. It had a population of in .
The municipality of Zederik was formed on January 1, 1986, thr ...
in
South Holland
South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely ...
. An alternative history is that it originated in Germany in the area of
Dielingen in
Nordrhein-Westfalen, not far from the
Dümmer See
Dümmer See is a lake in Nordwestmecklenburg and Ludwigslust-Parchim, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Eur ...
, where chickens with a black neck and tail and a white body occurred as
sport
Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...
s of the local
Westfälischer Totleger breed; these black-and-white birds 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 mal ...
by several breeders, and were first
shown in 1835 by one named Wirz, from in
Stemwede
Stemwede is a municipality in the Minden-Lübbecke district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Following a recent regional reorganization, in 1973, the former
districts of Dielingen-Wehdem and Levern were consolidated and the district of "Stemwe ...
. They came to be known as Lakenvelder, and enjoyed considerable popularity until the arrival in the later nineteenth century of more productive imported breeds such as the
Leghorn, after which numbers declined rapidly.
In Germany, a
breeders' association, the , was formed in
Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
in 1907.
The Lakenvelder was first imported into Britain in 1901, and was shown in
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...
in 1902. In the United States, it was admitted to the
Standard of Perfection
The ''American Standard of Perfection'' is the official breed standard for the poultry fancy in North America. First published in 1874 by the American Poultry Association, the ''Standard of Perfection'' (commonly referred to as "the ''Standard''" ...
of the
American Poultry Association
The American Poultry Association (APA) is the oldest poultry organization in the North America. It was founded in 1873, and incorporated in Indiana in 1932.
The first American poultry show was held in 1849, and the APA was later formed in respo ...
in 1939.
The international
conservation status
The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservation ...
of the Lakenvelder was not listed as being at risk by the
FAO in 2007; in Germany, it is listed in category III, ("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 the
.
Characteristics
The head, neck hackle and tail of the Lakenvelder are solid black, without spots, ticks or stripes; the inner web of the wing primaries and secondaries is black. The rest of the bird is white with a pale blue-grey under-colour. The black-and-white pattern is reminiscent of the colouring of the
Lakenvelder
The Lakenvelder or Lakenfelder is a breed of domestic chicken from the Nordrhein-Westfalen area of Germany and neighbouring areas of the Netherlands. It was first recorded in 1727.
History
The origins of the Lakenvelder are not clear. Two dif ...
breed of cattle, which originated in the same area.
The eyes are bright chestnut or red, the beak dark horn, and the face, wattles and comb bright red, with white earlobes. The legs are slate-blue.
Use
The Lakenvelder lays up to 160 white eggs, weighing up to 50 g each, per year.
File:Silverlakenvelderchick.jpg, Three-day-old chick
File:Lakenfelder Hahn (Jungtier).JPG, Cockerel
References
Conservation Priority Breeds of the Livestock Conservancy
Chicken breeds
Chicken breeds originating in Germany
Animal breeds on the GEH Red List
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