The Polverara, also known as Schiatta (Italian) or S'ciata ( Venetian), is an ancient breed of crested
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 area of
Polverara
Polverara is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Padua in the Italian region Veneto, located about southwest of Venice and about southeast of Padua. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,555 and an area of .All demographics ...
in the
province of Padua
The Province of Padua (''Provincia di Padova'') is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Padua.
Geography
It has an area of 2,142 km2, and a total population of 936,492 (2016) making it the most populated pr ...
, in the
Veneto
Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona.
Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...
region of north-eastern Italy.
History
The Polverara chicken takes its name from Polverara, a small town in the rural
Saccisica
The Saccisica, sometimes also called the Piovese, is a historic area consisting of the comuni of Arzergrande, Bovolenta, Brugine, Codevigo, Correzzola, Legnaro, Piove di Sacco, Polverara, Pontelongo and Sant'Angelo di Piove di Sacco. It has an ...
area of the province of Padova. The early history of the Polverara breed is unclear, as is its relationship to the Padovana. The Polverara is a larger breed, with a smaller crest and beard. It has been suggested both that it derives from the Padovana, and that the Padovana derives from it.
Two sources provide evidence of crested chickens in Europe in
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
times: the two marble statuettes of crested chickens noticed in the Sala degli Animali ("animal hall") of the Vatican Museums in 1927 by
Alessandro Ghigi
Alessandro Ghigi (9 February 1875 – 20 November 1970) was an Italian zoologist, naturalist and environmentalist.
Life
Alessandro Ghigi was born in Bologna on 9 February 1875. He attended the University of Bologna, graduating with a degree in N ...
date from the 1st or 2nd century AD; a chicken skull excavated at West Hill,
Uley
Uley is a village and civil parish in the county of Gloucestershire, England. The parish includes the hamlets of Elcombe and Shadwell and Bencombe, all to the south of the village of Uley, and the hamlet of Crawley to the north. The village is ...
, Gloucestershire in England shows the typical cerebral hernia of the crested breeds and dates from the 4th century.
The first reference to the chickens of Polverara is from Bernardino Scardeone (1478–1554), who writes of the Saccisica: "this area is ... famous for the abundance of chickens of remarkable size, particularly in the village of Polverara".
Alessandro Tassoni
Alessandro Tassoni (28 September 156525 April 1635) was an Italian poet and writer, from Modena, best known as the author of the mock-heroic poem ''La secchia rapita'' (''The Rape of the Pail'', or ''The stolen bucket'').
Life
He was born in M ...
(1565–1635), in his mock-heroic poem ''La Secchia Rapita'' ("The Stolen Bucket", 1622) speaks of "... Polverara, which is the kingdom of cocks".
A painting by
Giovanni Agostino Cassana
Abate, or Giovanni Agostino Cassana (c.1658 – 6 May 1720) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. He was a son of Giovanni Francesco Cassana and an elder brother of Niccolò and Giovanni Battista.Musei Civici degli Eremitani, the city museums of Padova, shows a woman spinning thread in a rural landscape, surrounded by a number of domestic animals, including a crested white hen that closely resembles the Polverara breed.
By the late 19th century a decline in the breed, attributed to inter-breeding with other chickens, was already apparent. Despite various attempts by breeders to preserve it, and the institution by the comune of Polverara in 1925 of an annual prize of 300 lire to be awarded to the best breeder, the Polverara chicken declined through most of the 20th century. A rustic breed that adapted poorly to intensive farming, its numbers fell until only seven remained. From the 1980s, new efforts were made to recover and reconstitute it. It was included in the 1996 official standard of the Federazione Italiana Associazioni Avicole, the federation of Italian poultry associations, which is the authority governing poultry breeding in Italy. It is under the protection of the
European Community
The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...
.
Breed numbers remain low. A study published in 2007 used a figure of approximately 1200 for the total breeding stock, of which approximately 300 were cocks.
Characteristics
Two colours are recognised for the Polverara, black and white. The black variety is deep black with strong dark green lights; the legs are a greenish slate colour, and the beak dark with black lines. The white variety is pure white, with willow-green legs and pinkish yellow beak. The skin is white.
The crest is small and upward-facing, the comb small and V-shaped. The wattles are small, the ear-lobes of medium size and pure white. Average weight is for cocks, for hens. The eggs are whitish and weigh at least 50 g. Ring size is 18 mm for cocks, 16 mm for hens.
Uses
The Polverara is a dual-purpose breed. It is kept in the open as it adapts poorly to captivity, and may roost in trees where available. Cocks easily reach 3 kg in weight. Hens lay at least 150 eggs a year. The meat is darker than in some other breeds, and is delicate and well-flavoured.