The Crèvecœur is an endangered historic
breed of
crested chicken
Crested chickens are a group of ornamental chicken breeds characterised by a tuft or crest of upward-pointing feathers on the head.
History and distribution
A skull excavated in England suggests that crested chickens were present there in R ...
from the
Pays d'Auge
The Pays d'Auge (, literally ''Land of Auge'') is an area in Normandy, straddling the ''départements'' of Calvados and Orne (plus a small part of the territory of Eure). The chief town is Lisieux.
Geography
Generally it consists of the basin ...
, in the
Calvados
Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples or pears, or from apples with pears.
History In France
Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Nor ...
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
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
, in north-western France. It is named after the
commune of
Crèvecœur-en-Auge. It is related to the
La Flèche
La Flèche () is a town and commune in the French department of Sarthe, in the Pays de la Loire region in the Loire Valley. It is the sub-prefecture of the South-Sarthe, the chief district and the chief city of a canton, and the second most pop ...
and to other Norman breeds such as the
Caumont and
Caux and the extinct
Pavilly
Pavilly () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France.
Geography
A town of farming and light industry situated by the banks of the river Austreberthe in the Pays de Caux, some northwest of Rouen at ...
; the
Merlerault was formerly considered a sub-type of the Crèvecœur.
History
The Crèvecœur is among the oldest French breeds of chicken; its origins are unknown. It takes its name from the
commune of
Crèvecœur-en-Auge, near
Lisieux
Lisieux () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. It is the capital of the Pays d'Auge area, which is characterised by valleys and hedged farmland.
Name
The name of the town derives from the ...
in the historic region of the
Pays d'Auge
The Pays d'Auge (, literally ''Land of Auge'') is an area in Normandy, straddling the ''départements'' of Calvados and Orne (plus a small part of the territory of Eure). The chief town is Lisieux.
Geography
Generally it consists of the basin ...
, in the
Calvados
Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples or pears, or from apples with pears.
History In France
Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Nor ...
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
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
. Crèvecoeur chickens won prizes at the
Exposition Universelle of 1855 in Paris. The breed was described in detail by
Louis Bréchemin in 1894, but the
breed standard
In animal husbandry or animal fancy, a breed standard is a description of the characteristics of a hypothetical or ideal example of a breed. The description may include physical or morphological detail, genetic criteria, or criteria of athlet ...
was not accepted by the Société d’Aviculture de Basse-Normandie until 1909.
The Crèvecœur was reared in the United Kingdom from the mid-nineteenth century, and was added to the
Standard of Perfection
The ''American Standard of Perfection'' is the official breed standard for the poultry fancy in North America. First published in 1874 by the American Poultry Association, the ''Standard of Perfection'' (commonly referred to as "the ''Standar ...
of the
American Poultry Association
The American Poultry Association (APA) is the oldest poultry organization in the North America. It was founded in 1873, and incorporated in Indiana in 1932.
The first American poultry show was held in 1849, and the APA was later formed in resp ...
in 1874.
The French population of the breed suffered during both the
First
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
and
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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
s; after the latter, it was thought to have virtually disappeared. Recovery was begun in 1976 by
Jean-Claude Périquet Jean-Claude is a French masculine given name. Notable people with the name include:
* Jean-Claude Ades, an Italian electronic music producer
* Jean-Claude Alibert (died 2020), a French racing driver
* Jean-Claude Amiot (born 1939), a French compos ...
. In 1995 numbers were reported to be between 100 and 1000 individuals; in 2007 the breed was classified by the
FAO
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...
as "endangered".
Bantam versions were separately developed in the United States from about 1960, and in Germany towards 2000.
Characteristics
The Crèvecœur has a
crest
Crest or CREST may refer to:
Buildings
* The Crest (Huntington, New York), a historic house in Suffolk County, New York
*"The Crest", an alternate name for 63 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York
* Crest Castle (Château Du Crest), Jussy, Switze ...
similar to that of the
Houdan
Houdan () is a commune of the Yvelines department west of Paris in the north of France.
History
The name has evolved from the Saxon "Hoding," meaning "settlement on the hill". Houdan is thought to have been inhabited since the 5th century. By ...
breed. Unlike the Houdan, it is
four-toed and has a V-shaped
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 Prehistory, prehistoric times, having been discovered in very refined forms from settlemen ...
like that of the
La Flèche
La Flèche () is a town and commune in the French department of Sarthe, in the Pays de la Loire region in the Loire Valley. It is the sub-prefecture of the South-Sarthe, the chief district and the chief city of a canton, and the second most pop ...
.
It is most commonly black, and this is the only
colour variant recognised in the United Kingdom and in the United States. Three other colours are recognised in France: blue, white, and cuckoo. The face,
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 Prehistory, prehistoric times, having been discovered in very refined forms from settlemen ...
, ear-lobes and
wattle
Wattle or wattles may refer to:
Plants
*''Acacia sensu lato'', polyphyletic genus of plants commonly known as wattle, especially in Australia and South Africa
**''Acacia'', large genus of shrubs and trees, native to Australasia
**Black wattle, c ...
s are bright red, the legs and feet slate blue or black. The beak is a dark horn colour, the eyes may be red or sometimes black.
Use
The Crèvecœur was traditionally kept as a dual-purpose chicken, raised both for its eggs and for its meat, which is of high quality. The eggs are white, and weigh about . It is now raised primarily for
poultry exhibition.
References
Conservation Priority Breeds of the Livestock Conservancy
Chicken breeds
Chicken breeds originating in France
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