Chinese Langshans

[Wangxian520]

Langshan have always been an interest. Just haven't gotten around to get any.

They are actually a great bird to have. Good tempered as long as you don't train them to be aggressive lol

 

[3KillerBs]

Because the Langshan mountains has a lot of creeks and bodies of water. The Chinese Langshan are breed to be able to swim.

How interesting!

 

[MysteryChicken]

They are actually a great bird to have. Good tempered as long as you don't train them to be aggressive lol

You can't train a chicken to be aggressive. It's genetic nature. It can be bred for, not trained for. It's all about selection of specific traits.

 

[MysteryChicken]

They are actually a great bird to have. Good tempered as long as you don't train them to be aggressive lol

I'll have to find a good breeder.

 

[CurvyCoop]

View attachment 3012359

These are the Chinese standards for Langshan. The white kind is slim compared to the black. The white Langshan rooster was bred for cockfighting, hence the they had a name called "white wolf warrior" since Langshan translates to Wolf Mountain.

Just look at those beautiful birds! I love the black ones so much!

 

[Wangxian520]

Just look at those beautiful birds! I love the black ones so much!

Did you know the black ones in China has plumage that are so black and shiny they that under sunlight it glows green and turquoise? Their feathers are also like duck feathers, water slides off their body so you won't get a wet chicken.

 

[CurvyCoop]

Did you know the black ones in China has plumage that are so black and shiny they that under sunlight it glows green and turquoise? Their feathers are also like duck feathers, water slides off their body so you won't get a wet chicken.

That is just amazing. As if I needed more reasons to love Langshans

 

[annagoodspeed]

It basically talks about the breeding standards of the chicken. In China the feather legged Langshan are culled. The only recognized color is black. The rooster are breed to retain an agressive temperament, because they are raised in the mountains hence there are predators. Because the Langshan mountains has a lot of creeks and bodies of water. The Chinese Langshan are breed to be able to swim.

Here are two links to early Western writings on the history of the Langshan. Very different story. I wonder if the original imported stock was a regional variation?


“Every Courtyard Containing Large Black Fowls - M. Soulié de Morant tells me he was greatly surprised to find all the inner courtyards of the lower Monastery buildings where the apprentice monks and the servants of the Monastery lived, and in all the farms lying around the mountain and belonging to the Monastery, "beautiful, large, full bodied black fowls with a green metallic sheen", and these only. So unlike, he says the common fowl of the Kiang- Su Province, south of the Yang-Tse which were coarse and lanky, all of uniform colour, brown red, that of the wild fowls he had found in the Chinese forests.”

http://croadlangshan.org/pdf/THE%20LANGSHAN'S%20AMAZING%20HISTORY.pdf

https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Langshan_Fowl.html?id=ay9EAAAAYAAJ

 

[Wangxian520]

Here are two links to early Western writings on the history of the Langshan. Very different story. I wonder if the original imported stock was a regional variation?


“Every Courtyard Containing Large Black Fowls - M. Soulié de Morant tells me he was greatly surprised to find all the inner courtyards of the lower Monastery buildings where the apprentice monks and the servants of the Monastery lived, and in all the farms lying around the mountain and belonging to the Monastery, "beautiful, large, full bodied black fowls with a green metallic sheen", and these only. So unlike, he says the common fowl of the Kiang- Su Province, south of the Yang-Tse which were coarse and lanky, all of uniform colour, brown red, that of the wild fowls he had found in the Chinese forests.”

http://croadlangshan.org/pdf/THE%20LANGSHAN'S%20AMAZING%20HISTORY.pdf

https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Langshan_Fowl.html?id=ay9EAAAAYAAJ

Interesting, but considering the book is from the 1800's I am sure the breed standard changed throughout the eras. Langshan is located in Jiangsu province (or Kiang Su in his sources). The mountains are located in the modern day city of Nantong. Majority of the province is north of the Yangtze River. So, I highly suspect a lot of the things he is told were accurate. Back in the 1800's when Europeans went to China their first stop was Guangzhou. They speak the Cantonese dialect down there and they are often hired as interpreters. When they went up north to Jiangsu they speak the Wu dialect. Therefore there were some language barriers, so what he was told might not have been true. Also, most ordinary Chinese people in the 1800's were illiterate and didn't understand much things. They might have just called the chicken Langshan because that's what everybody calls it.

I have attached some maps of the region the chicken are from.

 

[Wangxian520]

Here is a brief introduction from Baidu.
Translation: The Langshan chicken is a dual purpose bird originated from the Jiangsu province, Nantong City, Rudong county. This bird is known for producing a lots of eggs, muscular and stocky body, with tender flesh. Recognized plumage colors include, black, white, and red. The black colored birds are known as the "Langshan Blacks"; the bird's plumage is known to shine green and blue. If raised well a rainbow shine might even be possible. There is a variety of Langshan Blacks that has a partially fluffy feather crest at the black of their heads. This variety is called the "Langshan Phoenix". People in Rudong county call them "fluffy head chickens". The white variety are called "Langshan White". The plumage has to be white as snow. The white variety are few in numbers. Due to their white plumage and bright red head they are difficult to keep.