484 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



RUSSIAN FOWLS 

 " Very little has been known as to the fowls 

 chiefly met with in Russia. From time to time 

 reference has been made in various books to 

 fowls which were called ' Russian,' having 

 certain special characteristics, but until the 

 Poultry Exhibition held at St. Petersburg in 

 1899 I never met with any of these birds. 



-' In an interesting paper which was read at 

 the Congress held in the Russian capital, it was 

 stated that of the breeds of Russian fowls the 

 first place must be accorded to 

 Orloffs. those called Orloff. The best speci- 



mens of this race are all of a very 

 large size, in general the adult cock weighing 

 about 10 lbs., but in some cases they reach 

 12 lbs. and more, the hens being about 2 lbs. 

 less. The head of these birds is large, nearly 

 round, without the slightest sign of crest, but 

 with heavy whiskers and beard. The hackles 

 swell out below the head into almost a spherical 

 protuberance, but at the base of the neck the 

 feathers lie close, so that the neck appears thin- 

 ner at the shoulders than above. In body it is 

 large, closely feathered, and very deceptive in 

 the actual weight ; in appearance it is not unlike 

 the Indian Game in some respects, although it 

 is not quite so wide in body or heavy in bone, 

 and has a distinct appearance of being deeper 

 in breast, though this is partially due to the fact 

 that the breast is longer and more prominent in 

 front than in the case of the Indian Game. 

 Still it follows that type very largely, and with 

 the exception of the muffs, the head has a 

 similar appearance. Good specimens are rather 

 difficult to obtain. Various suggestions have 

 been made as to the origin of the breed, which 

 is not widely distributed. It has been suggested 

 that it was due to the crossing of the Malay 

 upon the Faverolles or Mantes fowl ; but this is 

 denied, and the fact that birds of the Orloff 

 type have been met with for a longer period of 

 time than the Faverolles or Mantes fowls ap- 

 pear to have been known, would indicate that 

 this could not be the origin. As one Russian 

 writer says, the difference between the Orloff 

 and all other species is chiefly in the conforma- 

 tion of the head, which is round and large, the 

 frontal bone being particularly prominent. The 

 conformation of the beak is equally remark- 

 able, no other species having the beak curled 

 as sharply, and which is very evident even in 

 the chickens. The following quotation from a 

 paper read at the St. Petersburg Congress by 

 M. Houdekoff affords all the information ob- 

 tainable at present. 



" ' The Orloff fowl has received this name 

 from the fact that it is supposed to have been 



introduced by Count Orloff-Tschesmensky. 

 This is not, however, very probable, because 

 it was well known by Russians before the time 

 of Count Orloff. We find a description in the 

 work of an unknown writer published in 1774, 

 where it is named " Chlianskaia." Breeders 

 knew the race under the latter denomination 

 until a much later period. Now, without any 

 reason, it is customary to call them the Orloff. 

 The more probable supposition is that they 

 were brought prominently forward by the cele- 

 brated horse-breeder. Count Orloff-Tschesmen- 

 skv, and principally in the province of Ghilan. 

 But he did not give them the name. We may 

 ask whether there are not a few races of 

 domestic fowls, yet unknown, in the centre of 

 Asia ? That country has been explored in 

 many parts to a small extent, and it is not im- 

 possible that it contains many surprises. It 

 may be that this race of poultry had its origin 

 there, and was not produced in Russia. But 

 we have made it known first to Europe and 

 America.' 



" My own observations are that the Orloff is 

 not widely distributed, and it was with con- 

 siderable difficulty that I secured a trio. Un- 

 fortunately both the hens died before they bred, 

 and I have not yet succeeded in securing other 

 specimens. Hence I have no experience as to 

 their qualities, but they would appear to me 

 to be moderate layers, but good in table 

 properties. There are three colours: 1st, dark 

 mahogany ; 2nd, speckled ; 3rd, white. The 

 first named is the most wonderful in sheen and 

 colour of any fowls I have seen. 



" A very interesting class of fowl is that 

 called the Pavloff, and so far as I can learn it is 

 really the progenitor of what we now call the 

 Polish. There were quite a number 

 Pavloff. of these birds exhibited at the .St. 



Petersburg show, both by Russians 

 and Germans, and they are evidently found 

 in the border sections of these two countries. 

 They differ, however, very distinctly from 

 the Western European Polish, but some of the 

 same characteristics are present, though in a 

 less degree. These birds are much smaller than 

 our Polish, and have feathers upon the legs, in 

 some cases being very thickly feathered, but 

 they are also crested, though the crests are 

 small and differ distinctly from the Polish in 

 shape. As is well known, the crest of the 

 Polish fowls is large and round, whereas these 

 are small. In some cases the crest feathers 

 stand almost erect upon the head ; in others 

 there is a transverse line on the top of the 

 Iiead, part of the feathers falling back and the 



