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Our main
purpose when we started out was to focus on American rare
breed poultry, more specifically Northeastern rare breeds.
With the Dominique it was love at first sight. We had started
off with Blue and Black Jersey Giants, which caught my eye
with their size, beauty and friendly nature. We soon realized
however that our Giants had some difficulty with very cold
New Hampshire winters, mostly suffering from frostbitten combs,
although as far as weathering the winter otherwise, they did
very well. Also due to their size, they ate more than our
Dominiques. So we decided to sell our Giant flock and replace
them with a breed more suited to our cold, long winters. We
wanted a personable breed with a small comb and wattles to
prevent frostbite, one which would continue to lay eggs through
the winter, and would provide us with a good amount of meat.
The Chantecler
is reputed to do all the above. Chanteclers were developed
in the early 1900's by Brother Wilfred, a monk in Quebec who
realized that Canada had no chicken breed of its own. He set
out to develop a uniquely Canadian breed that would provide
good eggs, meat, and could withstand harsh cold climates.
Breeds that went into development of the original White Chantecler
include the Dark Cornish, White Leghorn, Rhode Island Red,
White Wyandotte, and White Plymouth Rock. The White Chantecler
was admitted into the APA Standard of Perfection in 1921.
Dr. J.
E. Wilkinson of Alberta developed the Partridge variety a
decade or two later by crossing the Partridge Wyandotte, Partridge
Cochin, Dark Cornish, and the Rose Comb Brown Leghorn. Partridge
Chanteclers were admitted into the Standard in 1935.
A third
variety, Buff, is available through a few breeders and hatcheries.
I don't have any information on which breeds went into their
development or who developed this color. The Buff Chantecler
is not yet a recognized variety by the APA, but many breeders
and fanciers are working to get them recognized.
Just
recently, Ideal Poultry has started offering Red Chanteclers.
Not much is known about this newest variety.
We purchased
some Partridge and Buff pullet chicks from Ideal Poultry in Spring
of 2006 for our laying flock. We will be adding White Chanteclers in 2011 to our breeding program.
Currently our Chantecler breeding program is on hiatus and we won't have an Chanteclers available any time in the near future.
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