Houdan (chicken)
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Houdan pair, illustration from the Geflügel-Album of Jean Bungartz, 1885
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| Other names | French: Poule de Houdan |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | France |
| Standard |
Standard-sized (in French) Bantam (in French) |
| Use | meat, eggs, fancy |
| Traits | |
| Weight |
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| Egg color | white |
| Comb type | shaped like a butterfly or oak-leaf |
| Classification | |
| APA | continental |
| ABA | all other comb clean legged |
| EE | yes |
| PCGB | rare soft feather: heavy |
| Notes | |
| five-toed | |
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The Houdan or Poule de Houdan is an old French breed of domestic chicken. It is named for its area of origin, the commune of Houdan, in the département of Yvelines to the west of Paris. The Houdan has an unusual butterfly-shaped comb, and is one of few breeds to have five toes rather than the usual four.
The origins of the Houdan breed are unknown; as they predate modern agricultural writing, little can be said with certainty. The breed was described in detail in 1858. The Houdan combines a number of distinctive features, which in the nineteenth century gave rise to speculation about the breeds that might have contributed to its development. The Crèvecœur or perhaps the Polish was suspected to have given the Houdan its crest, and either the Dorking or the native five-toed fowl of France was thought have to resulted in the Houdan's five toes (most chickens have only four).
It was first imported into England in 1850, and to North America in 1865, where it appeared in the first edition of the American Standard of Perfection in 1874.
Houdans have small earlobes and wattles, a backward flowing crest, and facial feathering consisting of a beard and muffing near the ears. On hens, comb and wattles are sometimes completely obscured by the feathering. Houdan combs are V-shaped in the American standard, and butterfly-shaped in the British, Australian and French standards.
In terms of plumage, the Houdan is recognized in most countries in the Mottled color variety (or Caillouté, "pebbled" in France); Mottled being a poultry plumage term referring to a particular pattern of black with white spotting. The Houdan's original color pattern was a lighter variation of the mottled pattern, and predates the use of the plumage term Mottled; in the 1800s, Houdans were simply called Houdan Fowl, and were often closer in color to the splashy mixture of white and black which today is called Exchequer. While most Houdans were and remain mottled, in the early 1900s, additional color varieties such as white were created by poultry fanciers. White Houdans are still recognized alongside Mottled in the American standard, although the White variety is uncommon.
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