The Frizzle 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 ...

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 ...

with characteristic curled or

frizzled Frizzled is a family of atypical G protein-coupled receptors that serve as receptors in the Wnt signaling pathway and other signaling pathways. When activated, Frizzled leads to activation of Dishevelled in the cytosol. Species distribution Fri ...

plumage. While the frizzle gene can be seen in many breeds, such as the Pekin and

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

, the Frizzle is recognised as a distinct breed in a number of European countries and Australia. In the United States frizzled chickens are not considered a breed, and at shows are judged by the standards of the breed they belong to.

History

The origin of the Frizzle is unknown. The frizzle gene is thought to have originated in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

; frizzled chickens have been reported from the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

since the eighteenth century. The Frizzle breed is the result of breeder selection for exhibition. It is recognised in nine European countries: Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Slovakia and the United Kingdom.

Characteristics

The gene for the curling of the feathers is

incompletely dominant In genetics, dominance is the phenomenon of one variant (allele) of a gene on a chromosome masking or overriding the effect of a different variant of the same gene on the other copy of the chromosome. The first variant is termed dominant and t ...

over normal plumage; not all members of the breed have frizzled feathers. Frizzled birds are

heterozygous Zygosity (the noun, zygote, is from the Greek "yoked," from "yoke") () is the degree to which both copies of a chromosome or gene have the same genetic sequence. In other words, it is the degree of similarity of the alleles in an organism. Mo ...

for the gene; when two are bred, the offspring inherit the gene in the usual Mendelian 1:2:1 ratio: 50% are heterozygous and frizzled like the parents, 25% have normal feathering, and 25% are "over-frizzled", with brittle feathers resembling pipe-cleaners. The Frizzle has a single

comb A comb is a tool consisting of a shaft that holds a row of teeth for pulling through the hair to clean, untangle, or style it. Combs have been used since prehistoric times, having been discovered in very refined forms from settlements dating ba ...

and is clean-legged – without feathers on the shanks. It is a good forager and is hardy. Four colours are recognised in the

Entente Européenne Entente, meaning a diplomatic "understanding", may refer to a number of agreements: History * Entente (alliance), a type of treaty or military alliance where the signatories promise to consult each other or to cooperate with each other in case o ...

standard: black, blue, cuckoo and white. The

Poultry Club of Great Britain The Poultry Club of Great Britain is a registered charity founded in 1877. Its stated purpose is to "safeguard the interests of all pure and traditional breeds of poultry including chickens, bantams, ducks, geese and turkeys". The club maint ...

recognises nineteen colours for both standard and bantam sizes; not all of them are currently bred. The

Australian Poultry Standards The ''Australian Poultry Standards'' is the official breed standard for poultry fancy in Australia. It is the standard of perfection from which all poultry in Australia is supposed to be judged when exhibited at poultry shows. It is published b ...

recognise black, blue, buff, white, Columbian, red and "any recognised colour".

Genetics

Research suggests that the frizzled phenotype comes from a mutation within the keratin gene ''KRT75''. A deletion that removed part of exon 5 and intron 5 ameliorated the splice site. This caused a 69 bp deletion of the ''KRT75'' gene.

Use

The Frizzle is reared exclusively for

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...

. It is a good layer of white or tinted eggs, and frequently gets

broody Broodiness is the action or behavioral tendency to sit on a clutch of eggs to incubate them, often requiring the non-expression of many other behaviors including feeding and drinking.Homedes Ranquini, J. y Haro-García, F. Zoogenética. 1ra. edi ...

References

{{reflist, 45em, refs= APA Recognized Breeds and Varieties: As of January 1, 2012
American Poultry Association. Archived 4 November 2017. {{cite book, title=Australian Poultry Standards, date=2011, publisher=Victorian Poultry Fanciers Association (trading as Poultry Stud Breeders and Exhibitors Victoria), isbn=9781921488238, page=79 & 80, edition=2nd Frances Bassom (2009). ''Chicken Breeds & Care: A Color Directory of the Most Popular Breeds and Their Care''. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books. {{ISBN, 9781554074730. Liste des races et variétés homologuée dans les pays EE (28.04.2013)
Entente Européenne d’Aviculture et de Cuniculture. Archived 16 June 2013. Carol Ekarius (2007)
''Storey's Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds''
North Adams, Massachusetts: Storey Publishing. {{isbn, 9781580176675. Chris Graham (2006). ''Choosing and Keeping Chickens''. London: Hamlyn. {{ISBN, 9780600614388. Breed Classification
Poultry Club of Great Britain. Archived 12 June 2018. Victoria Roberts (2008)
''British poultry standards: complete specifications and judging points of all standardized breeds and varieties of poultry as compiled by the specialist breed clubs and recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain''
Oxford: Blackwell. {{ISBN, 9781405156424. Welcome
The Frizzle Society of Great Britain. Archived 30 September 2012. Frizzle Breed Standards
The Frizzle Society of Great Britain. Archived 16 October 2012. __NOTOC__ Chicken breeds