The Ardennaise, french: Poule ardennaise, italic=no, is a breed 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 adu ...

from the Ardennes plateau, in Belgium and eastern France. Its range extends from the Pays de Herve in

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

to the French

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...

of Ardennes, and includes the Fagnes, the

Famenne Famenne (; wa, Fåmene, ) is a natural region in Wallonia (southern Belgium). Together with The Fagne or la Fagne, west of the river Meuse, it is part of the Fagne-Famenne natural region. The two regions are often grouped together because they ...

, and the valleys of the Amblève, the

Ourthe The Ourthe (; Walloon: ''Aiwe d' Oûte'') is a long river in the Ardennes in Wallonia (Belgium). It is a right tributary to the river Meuse. The Ourthe is formed at the confluence of the ''Ourthe Occidentale'' (Western Ourthe) and the ''Ourthe ...

and the

Semois The Semois (; ''Simwès'' in Walloon, often under elided form ''Smwès''; ''Semoy'', ''Sesbach'' in German, ''Setzbaach'' in Luxemburgish of Arlon; and known as the ''Semoy'' in France) is a river flowing from the Ardennes uplands of Belgium an ...

History

The Ardennaise is a traditional breed of the Ardennes region. The first description is that of Victor La Perre de Roo in 1882, at a time when the breed was already becoming rarer. A poultry breeders' club, the Union Avicole de Liége, was formed in 1893, and under its protection the Ardennaise enjoyed almost thirty years of success. Following the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, mass importations of yellow-legged birds from Italy, with much higher laying abilities, were a new threat.

Selective breeding 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 m ...

of the Ardennaise for better laying ability began in 1922, with some success. However, the Ardennaise was also cross-bred with Leghorn stock, resulting in a further decline. By 1940 there was no remaining trace of the breed. It was reconstituted over a period of about thirty years after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. In 2009 the total population was estimated at well over 2000. A bantam Ardennaise was created in Liège in the space of five or six years from 1904. It was shown from 1907, and the standard was approved in 1913. A tail-less variant, sometimes treated as a separate breed, the nl, Ardenner Bolstaart, italic=no or french: Sans-queue des Ardennes, italic=no, is identical to the standard breed in all respects, except for the absence of the

coccygeal The coccyx ( : coccyges or coccyxes), commonly referred to as the tailbone, is the final segment of the vertebral column in all apes, and analogous structures in certain other mammals such as horses. In tailless primates (e.g. humans and other ...

bone and the tail, caused by the dominant Rp gene. Both the Sans-queue and its tail-less bantam variant are critically endangered.

Characteristics

The Ardennaise is genetically close to the Bresse Gauloise. Twelve

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 associ ...

are recognised.

Use

In a year an Ardennaise hen lays approximately 180 white eggs weighing , with an average weight of .

References

Chicken breeds Chicken breeds originating in Belgium Chicken breeds originating in France {{poultry-stub