[Sca-cooks] Period breeds of chickens

[Marcus Loidolt]

Benedicte,
I have gotten two recent posts from the Honorable Lady Johnae and Philippa regarding breeds of chickens known in period. There are over 20 breeds of chickens whole line goes back to the middle ages and before! So finding a medieval egg should n't be that hard...

First know that ALL chickens are descended from the Eurasian Red Jungle Fowl, with the possible addition of others like the Green and Sumatran Jungle Fowl... 
ALL chickens descend from them like dogs come down to us from wolves and other wild canids.

Sometime in pre-history there was a division between Eastern and Western populations. 
The Western population lays white eggs, while the East lays brown, cream or tinted (bluish or greenish) eggs. The inside of the egg is determined by the lifestyle of the individual hen, while the outside shell of the egg is determined by breed.

In Western Europe some of the oldest breeds are the Fayoumi (dating to Pharonic Egypt) the Leghorn and the Dorking!  

An important word about breed NAMES...these change all the time with conquest and perspective!! So when researching historic breeds, be careful to note WHO is calling WHAT names....for example: Catto refers to 'the bird from Milan' as a great layer of white eggs, fierce in battle with a loud piercing crow, yellow legs and an erect carriage. Sound familiar?? Columella describes the same bird as coming from Legnano...we now know them as Leghorns...but they have also gone by names such as Lombard Fowl and Italians by other writers who had non Italian or non-local perspectives...

Dorkings are another fine example, in Italy they are known as Latinas, ie the birds from the Roman province of Latina, in S. France and neighboring lands they were/are known as Roman Fowl, but in England (and hence the rest of the world...) they are known as Dorkings, after the town in Kent where they are still found. Legend has it Julius Caesar introduced them to Britain in his conquest to provide fit food for both his gods and his men...

We see this change in breed names all the time in history according to who is speaking, so be careful when researching breeds and try to follow TYPES and movements of peoples as well as animals...

Fayoumi have not changed in the millenia, having been largely separated from other breeds by the desert and the Muslim world.They have remained as the Pharaohs knew them, a bird with the same upright carriage of the Leghorn, and bold aggressive personality but striped black and white, laying smaller white/cream eggs at an early age!

In the East chickens took a different turn, becoming heavier and larger...heavily feathered, laying fewer eggs but becoming more determined 'setters' and pets. 


It is also important to realize that chickens are by nature a creature of  settlement/civilization, they bond to location as much as to humans, like cats they are nearly impossible to herd or drive from one location to another over any real distance...
Our nomadic forefathers and mothers kept ducks and geese for domestic purposes and kept chickens in cages to use as auguries and sacrifices, not really as meals!
Ducks and geese will form strong herd identities and can be driven over long distance with your sheep and cattle and dogs, chickens and cats??? not so much!!



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