Chicken Breed Focus - Brakel

[Laura_BelgianBantams_63]

What a beautiful breed! I've never heard of them before.

Same here! DEFINITELY on my wish list.

 

[Miami Leghorn]

Can this be a bantam as well? I have a banty rooster that I don't know what he is.

Looks like a Silver Leghorn bantam

 

[Miami Leghorn]

The Brakel or Braekel chicken breed is one of the older European chicken breeds. Its history dates back to 1416, when it was mentioned as a successful poultry breed of the Brakel region, in Belgium, from which it took it's name. Brakels are similar to the Campine breed, which originated in Antwerp in the northern part of Belgium. Brakel and Campine females look very similar, but Brakel males have normal cock feathering, whilst Campine males have hen feathering which distinguishes the two, together with subtle differences in weight, the Brakel being the heavier of the two.
Two distinct types of Braekel were recognized in the past: the large type living on rich clay soil Flanders, and a light-weight type from the less fertile region, the Kempen. Due to crossbreeding between the different types, this distinction vanished, resulting in a single type.
Old names for the breed are "The Everyday Layer", "The Grey White Neck" and "The Nuns Hen".
Details:

Purpose: Egg production
Egg laying: 180-200 white eggs annually
Weight: Cock - 7 lb; Hen - 6 lb
Colours/Varieties: Silver; Gold (Standardised in the UK)








All pics by @SimonV

BYC Breed Discussion:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/846278/brakel-and-related-breeds-thread/0_30

Do you own Brakels? Are you a Brakel 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/

Looks like a Silver Crele Leghorn with dark legs...cool

 

[Amer]

Looks like a Silver Crele Leghorn with dark legs...cool

But not really at all...
Because autosomal barring. And birchen based. It’s surprising just how much the barring on the silvers looks just like sex-linked barring though. That must be hard to achieve.

 

[Miami Leghorn]

But not really at all...
Because autosomal barring. And birchen based. It’s surprising just how much the barring on the silvers looks just like sex-linked barring though. That must be hard to achieve.

Yes, the hackle has NO barring,huh?
I am a neophyte in this chicken genetics thing. I ordered a couple books the subject and I'm going to woodshed big time over the fall and nerd out.

 

[Amer]

Yes, the hackle has NO barring,huh?
I am a neophyte in this chicken genetics thing. I ordered a couple books the subject and I'm going to woodshed big time over the fall and nerd out.

Yeah. I’m thinking silver is the pattern and black is the absence of it though, so that at least would be easy. But to keep clean lines like that?

 

[Miami Leghorn]

But to keep clean lines like that?

How would you achieve that?

 

[BDutch]

I know a breeder in the Netherlands who breeds the normal sized and bantam Brakel (siver laced and golden ). He selects for shows and really look great. Within Eu he can send eggs through the mail.

I almost bought eggs for hatching bc they are really beautiful, but also found them rather big and skittish compared to the naine Tournaisis he is breeding too. So I bought Tournaisis (Doornikse krielen) from him.

P.s. If you want to read more about the Brakel / Breakel do read the article in the link. It has loads of pictures.
http://www.aviculture-europe.nl/nummers/11E04A05.pdf

 

[Amer]

How would you achieve that?

Selective breeding.
It looks really pretty because regular barring is actually really light grey, not white. I guess you’re right about the neck feathers being difficult to keep clean. I see some with black barring.

 

[Croamagna]

I raise brakel here in Texas and love them. They are very reliable layers and the roosters are very protective. Pretty flighty and not one for human friendship much but great free rangers. Most of the year here they don't even eat chicken food as they stay busy foraging all day.