The Siciliana is an ancient breed of
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 Italian island of
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
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, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
. It is notable for its unusual double or rose comb, for the early age at which birds reach maturity, and for the unusual shape of the eggs. The
Sicilian Buttercup
The Sicilian Buttercup is a breed of domestic chicken originating from the island of Sicily. The breed was imported to the United States in the nineteenth century, and to Britain and Australia early in the twentieth century. It derives from the ...
, bred in Australia, Great Britain and the North America, derives from it, but its long separation from the original stock has led to marked differences between the two.
History
![Gallus turcicus](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Gallus_turcicus.jpg)
The Siciliana appears to derive from ancient inter-breeding of local Sicilian birds with North African stock
[ such as the rose-combed Berbera breed][ or the Tripolitana described by Tucci.][ These birds may have been similar to the "Gallus turcicus" described by ]Ulisse Aldrovandi
Ulisse Aldrovandi (11 September 1522 – 4 May 1605) was an Italian naturalist, the moving force behind Bologna's botanical garden, one of the first in Europe. Carl Linnaeus and the comte de Buffon reckoned him the father of natural history st ...
in 1600.[ Chickens similar to the Siciliana are depicted in 16th-century paintings in the ]Vatican Museums
The Vatican Museums ( it, Musei Vaticani; la, Musea Vaticana) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of ...
and the Galleria Borghese
The Galleria Borghese () is an art gallery in Rome, Italy, housed in the former Villa Borghese Pinciana. At the outset, the gallery building was integrated with its gardens, but nowadays the Villa Borghese gardens are considered a separate tourist ...
in Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, and in Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
and Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
.[
In about 1863][ or 1877,][ a certain Cephas Dawes of ]Dedham, Mass Dedham may refer to:
Places
United Kingdom
*Dedham, Essex, a village in England
** Dedham Vale, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the surrounds of Dedham, Essex
United States
*Dedham, Iowa, a city in Carroll County
*Dedham, ...
, captain of the ''Frutiere'', was loading oranges in Sicily and bought a number of chickens to provide meat on his homeward journey. Some of these continued to lay well during the voyage, and were kept for eggs instead. Some of them were later sold to one C. Carroll Loring, also of Dedham, who became the first breeder of what would become the Sicilian Buttercup.[ All American Buttercups, however, descend from a later shipment of hatchlings, in 1892.][
In Sicily, the Siciliana was bred from 1913 by Francesco Tucci, director of the Istituto Zootecnico, or zoo-technical institute, of ]Palermo
Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...
, who bred only gold-coloured birds and who established the first standard for the breed.[ The Siciliana was described in 1922 by Ferruccio Frau-Sanna, who praised the work of Tucci but found stocks to be low and of uneven type.][ The breed declined through most of the 20th century until by the 1980s it was all but extinct. In 1986 some examples were shown at ]Forlì
Forlì ( , ; rgn, Furlè ; la, Forum Livii) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. It is the central city of Romagna.
The city is situated along the Via E ...
, and interest in the breed was renewed; it was for some time among the breeds under the protection of the Stazione Sperimentale di Pollicoltura (experimental poultry-breeding station) of Rovigo
Rovigo (, ; egl, Ruig) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of Northeast Italy, the capital of the eponymous province.
Geography
Rovigo stands on the low ground known as Polesine, by rail southwest of Venice and south-southwest of P ...
[ and of the Conservatorio delle Razze Avicole in Pericolo di Estinzione (centre for avian breeds in danger of extinction) of 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.[
In 2004 the Siciliana was included in the official standard of the Federazione Italiana Associazioni Avicole, the federation of Italian poultry associations, which is the national authority governing poultry breeding in Italy.][
Breed numbers remain low. A study published in 2007 used a figure of approximately 1000 for the total breeding stock, of which approximately 250 were cocks.][
]
Characteristics
Four colour varieties are recognised in the Siciliana: golden duckwing, black, white and, since June 2008, blue.[ The legs are willow green, and the skin is soft and yellow. The comb is cup-shaped, the two parts joined at the front and preferably also at the back, preferably with 5 well-defined points on each side. The ear-lobes are red; some white is tolerated. Average weight is for cocks, for hens.
The eggs range from white to light brown in colour, and weigh at least 45 g. They are of an unusually elongated and pointed shape. Ring size is 18 mm for cocks, 16 mm for hens.][
The Siciliana matures early. Male chicks may begin to crow at four weeks][ and display sexual behaviour at 40 days.][ Pullets begin laying at four][ or five months.][
]
References
{{Chicken breeds of Italy
Chicken breeds
Chicken breeds originating in Italy