Cole: Chantecler Poultry 



149 



THE BIRTHPLACE OF CHANTECLER 



Figure 1. This new poultry "creation" was developed by Brother Wilfrid, a Trappist monk 

 in charge of the poultry department of the Institute Agricola d'Oka. This school is one of the 

 two agricultural colleges receiving government aid that are available for the French-speaking 

 people of the province of Quebec. It lies in a beautiful valley between the two wooded hills 

 that give name to the Lake of the Two Mountains, a picturesque region whose history is linked 

 with the thrilling adventures of the early trappers and explorers. (See text, p. 147.) 



In 191vS a somewhat different method 

 of breeding was inaugurated. The 

 birds were divided into two flocks, in 

 one of which inbreeding was practiced 

 to a certain extent, while a Wyandotte 

 cock was used with the others. Selec- 

 tion continued to be effective, and by 

 1916 Brother Wilfrid felt that he had 

 nearly reached the end he had been 

 striving for, except that his birds were 

 not quite up to his desire in weight 

 and fleshing quality. One exceptional 

 pullet, however, in 1916 weighed 7^^ 

 pounds at seven months of age and 

 produced 91 eggs in the four months 

 from November 1916 to February 



1917. This pullet was bred to a White 

 Plymouth Rock cock and the finest 

 cockerels from this mating were used 

 to head the two flocks. 



Brother Wilfrid admits that there 

 has been and still is "atavistic" ten- 

 dency, but this is naturally only what 

 is to be expected in a breed of such 

 recent and mixed origin. The uni- 

 formity is such, however, that the 

 "Chantecler" was recognized as an 

 established breed by the American 

 Poultry Association in August, 1920, 

 and admitted to a place in the "Stand- 

 ard of Perfection."^ 



5 The confusion which arises from the formation of a multitude of breeds by different com- 

 binations of a limited number of characters is strikingly illustrated by remarks of Mr. John H. 

 Robinson in the Reliable Journal of May, 1922, where he refers to the "Babel of Breeds," in a 

 discussion of the work of the Revision Committee of the American Poultry Association. With a 

 reference to the Chantecler he says: 



"Something very like a shiver went through the Revision Committee as the members, when 

 considering the Standard for the Chantecler, made the discovery that there is such an amazingly 

 close resemblance in the ideal illustrations of the Chantecler, male and female, submitted with 

 the petition for its admission, and the ideal illustrations of Buckeyes in the 1915 Standard that 

 the Chantecler could be described as a White Buckeye with a 'cushion comb' instead of a 'pea- 

 comb.' " 



