Standard Varieties of Chickens:

Black Spanish

The Black Spanish (fig. 26) is one of the oldest varieties of domestic poultry. Their name has been identified with the industry for hundreds of years, and their practical worth on the farm has long been of much value. Their haughty bearing, large red comb and wattles, and the white face and lobes peculiar to the breed, contrasting with their glossy black plumage, render them most striking fowls.

White-faced Black Spanish have long been favorably known for their exceptionally fine laying qualities. The oldest of the nonsitting varieties, they still maintain an unsurpassed record. The pullets are early layers, averaging 150 to 180 eggs per year, the hens beginning somewhat later after molting, but compensating for any loss of quantity by the increased size of the egg, while hens and pullets alike are well above the average for winter laying. Their eggs are large and white and of good flavor. Their white face is a distinguishing feature, and should be long, smooth, free from wrinkles, rising well over the eyes in an arched form, extending toward the back of the head and to the base of the beak, covering the cheeks and joining the wattles and ear lobes, the greater the depth of surface the better, and should be pure white in color. The color of plumage throughout is rich, glossy black, and any gray in plumage is considered a serious defect. Shanks and toes are blue, or dark leaden blue. Comb is single and bright red in color; wattles, bright red, except the inside of the upper part, which is white; earlobes, pure white.

No standard weight is given for Black Spanish; they average in size that of the Leghorn and Andalusian.

FOR FURTHER READING...

The first image below comes from the Oklahoma State University Department of Animal Science's Poultry Breeds pages. The second image is from the FeatherSite, "an on-line zoological garden of domestic poultry". The White-Faced Black Spanish page at Oklahoma and the White-faced Black Spanish page at FeatherSite contain further information about this breed's history and more images of these fowl. Clicking on each image takes you to the page specifically about that particular variety.

Image Credits (from left to right): Copyright © 1996, Oklahoma State University Board of Regents; Courtesy of Barry Koffler

Please note: These links point to pages that are being served off of the Oklahoma State University's web server and off the cyborganic.net web server, which are not part of the Chickscope project. Because of this, the pages may be missing or corrupted, and control of this is generally out of the hands of the Chickscope development team.

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