Schweizer
Conservation status
Other names
  • Schweizerhuhn
  • Schweizer Huhn
Country of originSwitzerland
Traits
Weight
  • Male:
    2.8–3.5 kg[2]
  • Female:
    2.4–2.8 kg[2]
Egg colourtinted
Comb typerose
Classification
EEnot recognised[4]

The Schweizer, German: Schweizerhuhn or "Swiss chicken", is a Swiss breed of domestic chicken. It was bred in 1905 in Amriswil, in the canton of Thurgau, in north-east Switzerland. It is kept mainly in German-speaking areas of the country.[5] It is one of three Swiss chicken breeds, the others being the Appenzeller Barthuhn and the Appenzeller Spitzhauben.

History

Schweizerhuhn cock

The Schweizer breed was created in 1905 by Alfred Weiss in Amriswil, in the canton of Thurgau, in north-east Switzerland. He cross-bred various chicken breeds, mainly white Orpingtons and Wyandottes, to produce a good dual-purpose chicken.[2] It shows some similarity to the Deutsches Reichshuhn, which was developed at about the same time.[3]

A breed association was formed in 1910, and a breed standard was drawn up.[2] The breed had a period of success between the First and Second World Wars, but after the war the industrialisation of agriculture and the advent of imported hybrid layer breeds led to rapid decline in its numbers.[6][7] By 1971 the breeders' club had only six members.[2] In 1991, when no more than about fifty of the birds remained, a conservation programme for the breed was launched by ProSpecieRara;[6] a flock-book was established in 1993.

The Schweizer Huhn was listed by the FAO as "endangered" in 2007.[1]: 113  It was added to the Swiss Ark of Taste of the Slow Food Foundation in 2009.[8] In 2010 a population of 1600–1650 was reported to DAD-IS.[9][3] In early 2023 the conservation status of the breed was reported as 'unknown';[3] according to ProSpecieRara, breed numbers were slowly increasing.[6].

Characteristics

The Schweizer is entirely white, with a vivid red rose comb; red and white are the national colours of Switzerland.[7] The comb is relatively resistant to frost damage, so the birds are well adapted to Swiss weather conditions.[7] Cocks weigh 2.8–3.5 kg and hens 2.4–2.8 kg.[2]

Use

The Schweizer was developed as a dual-purpose chicken, to provide both eggs and meat.[7] Hens lay about 120[9] or 170–200 tinted eggs per year, with a weight of 55 g or more.[6]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Schweizerhuhn.
  1. 1 2 Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 [s.n.] (2013). Schweizerhuhn (in German). ProSpecieRara Schweiz. Archived 24 September 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Breed data sheet: Schweizer Huhn / Switzerland (Chicken). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed January 2022.
  4. ↑ Liste des races et variétés homologuée dans les pays EE (28.04.2013). Entente Européenne d’Aviculture et de Cuniculture. Archived 16 June 2013.
  5. ↑ Das Schweizerhuhn (in German). Züchterverein für ursprüngliches Nutzgeflügel. Archived 28 April 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Schweizerhuhn (in German). ProSpecieRara Schweiz. Archived 21 January 2022.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Tiergenetische Ressourcen der Schweizer Landwirtschaft (in German). Bern: Bundesamt für Landwirtschaft. Accessed January 2023.
  8. ↑ Arche des Geschmacks: Stand 2013 (in German). Slow Food CH. Archived 26 August 2014.
  9. 1 2 Breed data sheet: Schweizer Huhn/Switzerland. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed August 2014.
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