Chicken Breed Focus - Euskal Oiloa (Marraduna Basque)

[sumi]

The Euskal Oiloa - Marraduna Basque is the traditional chicken of the Basque rural economy. Selective breeding of the Euskal Oiloa was begun in 1975 as part of the conservation programme for indigenous chicken breeds of the Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria, the national public agrarian research institute. The decision to seek official breed status for these birds was taken at that time. The breed standard of the Euskal Oiloa was officially approved on 15 March 2001. It is included in the official list of indigenous Spanish breeds in the royal decree of 26 December 2008, which established the national livestock breed conservation programme, where it is listed among the indigenous breeds at risk of extinction. At the end of 2013 a population of 10,872 birds was reported, all from the País Vasco.
The Euskal Oiloa is a medium-heavy breed: cocks weigh about 3.6 kg, hens about 2.5 kg. The comb is single, with five to seven well-defined points. The comb, face, wattles and earlobes are red; the earlobes are narrow and pointed. The beak is curved in the cock, less so in the hen. The legs, feet and skin are yellow.
Five colour varieties are recognized: Beltza (black), Gorria (red), Lepasoila (naked-necked, red-brown), Marraduna (golden cuckoo) and Zilarra (black-tailed white). The Lepasoila, like other naked-necked chickens, has red skin on the neck.








All pics by @skylinepoultry

BYC Breed Reviews:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/euskal-oiloa-marraduna-basque

BYC Breed Discussion:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/510045/euskal-oiloa-basque-thread/0_30

Do you own Euskal Oiloas? Are you an Euskal Oiloa breeder? If so, please reply to this thread with the your thoughts and experiences, including:

· What made you decide to get this breed?
· Do you own them for fun? Breeding? Some other purpose?
· What are your favorite characteristics about this breed?
· Post some pics of your birds; male/female, chicks, eggs, etc!

We have a bunch of other awesome breed-focus threads for you to enjoy. You can see all of them here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-breed-focus-project.975504/

 

[N F C]

Interesting looking birds...thanks for the new breed focus thread @sumi

 

[1cock2hens]

Those are really neat, I really like them.

 

[poodlechicks]

Nice looking. I wonder if they are cold tolerant.

 

[Eggsakly]

The Basque region lies in the Pyrenees mountains, known to be considerably cooler than the lowlands, so I would guess that they have some, if not a great deal, cold hardiness.

 

[poodlechicks]

The Basque region lies in the Pyrenees mountains, known to be considerably cooler than the lowlands, so I would guess that they have some, if not a great deal, cold hardiness.

Good to know. It would be nice to add one or 2 to my flock. My chicken wish list is growing... I better not act on it

 

[blkjak]

I just hatched 3 EOs. They were extras with other eggs I ordered. I didnt know anything about the breed until I connected with another chicken lady. Then I started reading about the breed. These 3 chicks are going to live with her and I have ordered more hatching eggs for me!

 

[3riverschick]

The breed is said to be the friendliest chicken breed in the world . the chicks, if you put your hand in the brooder , will come running over and jump in your hand so they can be held .
They should be in the top choices of anyone's list if they're looking for a friendly chicken for their backyard.
I wonder if anybody has managed to separate the red variety from the golden cuckoo. that would be an interesting feat.
Best, Karen

 

[3riverschick]

I did a lot of research on the breed when I was thinking of getting into them awhile back . this is a breed that really needs more colors but the colors must come from the original stock .golden cuckoo is good for that
it's just going to take some serious breeding to pull the other colors out from the golden cuckoo . The very last thing this breed needs is for people to cross it to other breeds to try to create colors . The gene pool isn't that big . the last thing it needs is to be polluted by cross-breeding. I think it would be fascinating to try to pull the other colors out from the existing gene pool. Also think anybody would be shunned who tried to cross breed this breed. the people breeding it now are very loyal to the breed and a very enthusiastic group.

 

[3riverschick]

Personally I don't think this breed will ever suffer the genetic indignities that have happened to Marans breed because the people breeding this breed are so loyal and keep in such close contact and are so careful with their gene pool.