(Translation of Article mentioned above...)
SCHIJNDELAAR
The Schijndelaar received official recognition in 2001 from the then NHDB and is therefore the newest Dutch chicken breed and also the only recognized Dutch chicken breed, which lays green eggs.
Breed characteristics
The Schijndelaar was developed in the Netherlands from the Auracana, Sumatra, Brabants Boerenhoen and Leghorn among others. It is a graceful medium-sized pheasant-like fowl that lays blue to olive green eggs.
The animal has a fairly long body, a small head with a red face and a slightly rounded upper head. The small, irregular pea comb, is low on the head and fine in texture. The crest is rather small, without a skull lump.
The beak is firm, slightly curved, rather short and light yellow to yellow in color. The chin lobes are small and red, the ear lobes are small, red, rather short and fine in tissue. The eyes are large, lively and yellow in color.
The neck is medium length. The back medium length, slightly sloping and broad between the shoulders. The chest is rounded and carried somewhat high. Wings are powerful, and carried well connected. The shoulders are broad and rounded. The tail is richly feathered and carried approximately horizontally. The abdomen is moderately developed, the thighs are quite powerful, ample in length and tightly feathered. Treadbones and toes are straight, medium length and finely built with four strong, well-spread toes and light yellow to yellow in color. The soles of the feet are also light yellow to yellow. The feathering is full, smooth to the touch and white in color. Except for secondary sexual characteristics, there are no significant differences between rooster and hen.
Serious faults are very large chin lobes; distinct white ear lobes; egg laying, without green precipitation in the shell.
Establishment of the Schijndelaar
The idea to develop a new breed of chicken originated in the late 70s at the Eerste Schijndelse Kleindieren Vereniging (ESKV). Veterinarian Ruud Kaasenbrood tried to make clear to colleague breeders not only how the genetics could be used to perfect their breeds, but especially that it should be possible to breed a whole new breed. A number of breed characteristics were drawn up. For example, the animal was to have a rather small crest with few head ornaments, the long tail was to carry them approximately horizontally, the eggs were to be green. Kaasenbrood started breeding a Schijndelaar a few years later.
For the green egg he bought a trio of Auracanas at the Intershow. This consisted of a blue partridge cock and two wheat-colored hens. All three had a bulbous tail and the characteristic ear exercises.
The hens never laid fertilized eggs, even when they were partnered with a rooster with a normal tail. The cockerel on the other hand did an excellent job on the Sumatra hens that were already present.
For the crest, a pair of Brabant farmyard hens sourced from Ger van de Oetelaar were used. To get some more size in the hens, the crossbreeds were lent to Toon de Graaf and his Australian cock for a few weeks. The fertilized green eggs were hatched. From this hatchling, Kaasenbrood then worked for years towards a final product by crossbreeding among themselves. He paired the gracefulness of the Sumatra with the utility of the barnyard rooster and the hardiness and green egg of the Auracana.
The use of a bulbous tailed Auracana cock to breed in the predisposition for green eggs leads to an overall predisposition for a short bulbous tail within the breed. For generations this will show its influence within the breed with a long full tail.
The traits of the Sumatra are very dominantly embedded in the breed. Kaasenbrood noticed this from the beginning of the crossbreeding. Partly because of this, crossbreeding with this Sumatra quite quickly produced some chickens that already somewhat resembled the final target chicken. Nevertheless, the breeder selected very strictly from the beginning. In the first years, of the hundred chicks raised, only four or five were suitable to continue. After a few years of breeding, Kaasenbrood considered the results sufficient to show the first specimens with their green eggs at a club show. From then on enthusiasm grew among several ESKV members and the breeding of the Schijndelaar was continued by several breeders.
Kaasenbrood mentions Harrie van de Oetelaar who bred Schijndelaars from the beginning until 2000. It was Van den Oetelaar who in the early nineties some leghorns inbreeding to increase egg production. This was also the reason for the emergence of dominant white Schijndelaars. In the beginning the Schijndelaar was only bred in the colors black and blue.
Green eggs
The green egg is a characteristic that can only be observed in animals that lay. So hens. To determine the predisposition for green eggs in roosters, the desired characteristics had to be anchored and the breeding process had to be adjusted.
(There is a little bit more in the article but I hit the translation size limit.)
