The Braekel and Its E^^s 



The Braekel Has the Repntatioii ot Being the Best E|»i«-l>re«<I in Belgium— The Braekel E^gs Bring an Income 



of $1,600,000 a Year to That Small Part of Belgium Where the Braekel Hen is Kept— Rnsaia 



Wants to Know How to Iiioreuse the Size of Her Eggs — The Quality of the Braekel's 



Egg — How the Eggs are Packed, a Thousand in a Basket — A Report by 



A. F. Hunter of a Trip Through the Braekel Country is 



Commented on by the Author 



Hy I^oiiSfl Vender Sniokf, BriiHsels. BelAlum 



(BeinR compiled from Monograph of "Tlic Braekel I'-Qwl", by M. Vander Snickt, and translated by Madam A. F. Van Schelle) 



THE Braekel hen has for centuries enjoyed the 

 reputation of being the best among egg-laying 

 breeds, and the market of Nederbraekel, a town- 

 ship situated in the midst of the district of Alost, en- 

 joys the reputation of producing eggs of the best qual- 

 ity, in fact dealers of eggs recognize that these eggs 

 weigh 3 grams more than those of any other market, 

 and are superior in flavor — hence it follows that these 

 eggs always bring a higher price than any other eggs. 

 As a tree is judged by its fruit, so an egg-laying 

 hen must be judged by her 

 eggs. Therefore, instead of be- 

 ginning as fanciers have done 

 until now, by speaking of full 

 grown- chickens and old breeding 

 cocks, we shall turn our atten- 

 tion to their products, by be- 

 ginning with the Braekel egg, 

 its importance for agriculture 

 and trade. Then passing by the 

 industry of rearing milk fed 

 chickens, to grain fed chickens, 

 to the selling of egg-laying 

 chickens we shall arrive nat- 

 urally to the choice of breeding 

 stock and the judging of these 

 different varieties of a pure 

 breed, of which the gray with 

 white neck-hackles is the type 

 most generally appreciated and 

 most widely diffused, especially 

 in the Alost district and its im- 

 mediate neighborhood. 



This type, probably original 

 and called silver, subdivides it- 

 self into two varieties with 

 white necks; one having the 



plumage of the body barred and that of the other 

 flowered. A third variety is black headed, called 

 Sottegem. These three varieties exist in the gold: name- 

 ly gold instead of silver and there is still a seventh 

 called chamois, also with golden ground, but in which 

 the black markings have given way to white. There are 

 also entirely white Braekels, black and consequently a 

 blue variety. All of these varieties have existed and 

 still can be obtained with short legs and are subdivided 

 according to size. The large Braekels, called Gram- 

 mont, for sex positions; the medium sized ones for eggs 

 in farms and the small ones bred outside the rich soil 

 of the Alost district, called Campines, because they are 

 bred on the poor sandy soil of Campine. 



The Braekel is the hen adapted for centuries to the 

 district of Alost. The inhabitants select it for the quality 

 and quantity of its eggs. It has its characteristic forms 



THE LATE lOUIS VANDER SNICKT 



and colors which they wish to keep, the colors, and the 

 details of the markings of the plumage are secondary. 



Quantity and Value of Braekel Eggs 



It is no easy task to obtain by statistics exact fig- 

 ures on the commercial movement of eggs in the in- 

 terior of the country. We paid a visit to Mr. Desire de 

 Mulder, ex-dealer in eggs and butter, and the most com- 

 petent authority, in order to get exact and practical 

 data about these two articles in the part of the country 

 where he lives. We told him 

 "Sottegem being the market 

 which you know the best, as 

 during all your life you have 

 visited all the markets, how 

 many eggs were sold there and 

 at what price?" (That is a ques- 

 tion which it is difficult to an- 

 swer; the number of thousands 

 of eggs brought to the market 

 varies according to the seasons 

 and the weather. The same con- 

 dition applies to prices.) 



"I want the average prices." 

 "If I answer your question by 

 a figure you shall be the first to 

 be astonished by the answer." 

 We had just come back from 

 Nederbraekel where the Braekel 

 Club had just awakened from a 

 long sleep and there we had 

 been told that the trade of eggs 

 from Braekel hens had taken 

 such an extension in that town- 

 ship that not only are they sold 

 by car loads, but twice a week, 

 Wednesdays and Saturdays 

 whole trains of eggs are sent out. In fact, I deem that 

 in 25 years in the district of Alost the production of 

 eggs has tripled. 



"How many eggs come to the market of Sottegem 

 every Tuesday in January?" 



"That depends upon the weather." 

 "Then give us the average, if you please." 

 Now in December and January 50,000 at IS to 16 

 centimes per egg. Five times fifty thousand is two hun- 

 dred and fifty thousand and at IS centimes that makes 

 the sum of 57,500 francs. ($11,500.00.) 

 January — 5 times 50,000 equals 250,000, at 16 centimes, 



equals 50,000 francs. 

 February^ times 100,000 equals 400,000, at lOi/^ cen- 

 times, equals 42,000 francs; 

 March— 4 times 175,000 equals 700,000, at 7 centimes, 

 equals 49,000 francs. 



