The is a 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 is more than 400 years old, and is a rare breed.
History
The Totleger derives from the traditional rural chickens of
Westphalia
Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants.
The territory of the regio ...
, and was reared mainly in the area of the cities of
Bielefeld
Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Detmold and the ...
and
Herford
Herford (; nds, Hiarwede) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the lowlands between the hill chains of the Wiehen Hills and the Teutoburg Forest. It is the capital of the district of Herford (district), Herford.
Geography
...
. It is closely related to the
Ostfriesische Möwe
The , nl, Groninger Meeuw, italic=no, is an old German breed of domestic chicken. It is a rare breed: in 2016 the recorded population in Germany consisted of 215 cocks and 979 hens, in the hands of 130 breeders. Its conservation status is , "en ...
and to the
Braekel
The Braekel or Brakel is a traditional Belgian List of chicken breeds, breed of chicken. It is thought to have originated in the area of Brakel, Belgium, Brakel, in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of East Flanders, f ...
.
Although the German word means "dead" and means "(egg-)layer", the real meaning is another. Due to the considerable ability to produce eggs, the breed was called "Alltagsleger" ("every-day layer") or "Dauerleger". Under the influence of
Low German
:
:
:
:
:
(70,000)
(30,000)
(8,000)
, familycolor = Indo-European
, fam2 = Germanic
, fam3 = West Germanic
, fam4 = North Sea Germanic
, ancestor = Old Saxon
, ancestor2 = Middle L ...
the name changed into "Doutleijer". Later, from this Low German word, it developed into "Totleger". Derivation from "lays eggs until death" is not correct.
The Totleger was a popular breed until the arrival of more productive foreign breeds in the 1880s. By the time a
breeders' 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 ...
was formed in 1904, it had become largely an
exhibition breed. Numbers remained low throughout the twentieth century, reaching a low point in the 1980s.
In 2013 the recorded population consisted of 301 cocks and 1353 hens; in 2016 it had fallen to 176 cocks and 798 hens, in the hands of 112 breeders. It was the "endangered breed of the year" of the
in 1994, and in 2016 was classified as , "gravely endangered".
Characteristics
The Totleger is kept in two
colours
Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associa ...
: gold-pencilled and silver-pencilled. Cock birds weigh and hens The hens are
non-sitters; they lay some 180 eggs per year, of about in weight.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Westfalischer Totleger
Chicken breeds
Chicken breeds originating in Germany
Animal breeds on the GEH Red List