These are U.K. Araucanas of the Falklands and Shehuen type. Their genetics include plenty of Chaco Crested Mapuche; equal percentages of Quechua with smaller percentages of Ona and Colloncas. The genetic foundation underneath that long and expert selective breeding- one that has arrived at such a perfect bird is that of Raraku Shehuan- an Easter Island race recombined with a strain of exceptionally hardy birds of the aforementioned breeds.
These photos I've lifted off the internet. I hope I haven't offended anyone. These birds represent ideal stock of this (Falklands) breed type.
Rano Kau Rapanui hen. Maternal ancestor of the Collonca- lays rose or lilac grey hued eg. Note special pendicle beneath bill.
Kawéshkar(Ona)
Two perfect Collonca hens- discovered these photos on BYCF.
3. New Heritage Composites
a. Colloncas and Quetero composite aka Colloncas de aretes and Summer Faced Andes
b.Colloncas, Quetero and Quechua composite aka Collonca Quechua de aretes (?) and Summer Faced Andes
I've included these winter faced collonca because of their perfect colouration. The hen is exquisite.Her colours are more typical of a Quetero but we can see that the best genetics are present here. It's more difficult to see with males of this colour. His wings should be "crow" and bill black. They need to be bronzen; silver and fiery purple as well as scintillating mauve and maroon red
These are ideal Quechua de aretes - note the diversity of intense colours throughout the plumage. Not too the resemblance of this hen with the Collonca Quechua above.
Here's the rub. The Quechua are winter faced and the Mapuche are summer faced- that is - adapted for intense day time temperatures. The recombination of Quechua onto the Mapuche race- the Collonca is exceedingly common in South America. Also, we have the aretes earrings of the Quetero- an Aymara fowl- bred into both the Quechua and the Quechua Collonca composite. This major composite is what left South America for Europe a century or so ago and we have to be appreciative of the level of conservation- the dedication that European poultiers have had. Their birds are incredible- and diverse in type.
The Chaco- Crested Mapuche form their own little tribe of crested races and they are more related to the Kirikiri and Rarakau of Easter Island.
The Mapuche Indians' Collonca/Andes is probably the only chicken breed absolutely endemic to Chile. It is uniquely Chilean. Genetically speaking, its a descendant of the Rano Kau -an exceedingly rare Easter Island fowl that produces a greyish or lilac tinged egg. A tailed Collonca is referred to generically as an Andes.
The Aymara Indians' native fowl is the Quetero and it's not really all that related to the Quechua or the Collonca- its its own race- with no subbreeds surviving into modern era.
Birds collected in the(1920's) Aymara Indian villages in and around Tupe in the Yauyos province are probably the best stock, with the least Eurasian commercial genetic introgression. Other lines were not quite as 'pure' but select bred from as well. One lineage was actually a composite with some Olmec stock with Quechua and Koro Sea genetics but exhibiting amazing earrings. These birds were in the collection of one Dutch collector. Another line consisted of a composite of summer (clean) faced Andes of Collonca ancestry with Quetero and two other lines were from Lima and Lake Titicaca respectively.Additional genetics have been infused from a Firefly Junglefowl X NA Araucana composite.
Its still an incredibly rare breed that deserves a great deal of conservation effort.
The Quetero lives at the highest elevations of all the South American stocks but it's a dry elevation bird. It's perfect for farms on a hill- llama farmers, alpaca farmers-
The first and most important attribute of the Quetero is supposed to be its crow. It carried the Austronesian Ketawa ( the words are related by the way) laughing song.
The second most important attribute are of course the earrings- the males of which are supposed to sport the larger ones-but some lines the males lack them altogether and only the females sport them. The plumage of the Quetero should be complex and multi-coloured -most lines are of the subtle nuetral hues one appreciates in Indian corn. The other lines more typical of the Collonca. The birds should lay a wide pastel of colours from flower pot red to ochre yellow to pink to lilac, to blue, and dark green.
The last attribute of the Quetero worth discussing is its long tail. It should have a very wide and long tail.
All that said, I have so few birds with all these traits its a bit tragic. Most of my birds are Andes morph- with no earrings- and many are boring black or sepia brown.
Most of my males basically look like Red Junglefowl with some interesting flourishes. Almost none have a laughing crow and the tails of most are short and boxy.
The eggs are dingy yellow or grey- a few lay pink most boring beige.
The plumage of a few birds-specifically that line from Tupe is perfect but the earrings - I've only got them on a few birds -the tails are not long enough and the crow is unusual but not a hearty laugh. The bigger Aymara -the standard sized birds sometimes have a better crow but are so clearly admixtured with Eurasian stock I've never bred them together with the Indian stock.
Pacific Island Junglefowl note ruby red eyes, sepia plumage and brilliant blue legs.
The Quetero is a gracile, skittish creature unless handled from egg on.They should have ruby red eyes.
Quetero hens will ideally have dark maroon breasts.
This photo was taken in an Indian village outside Copiapó.
This photo was taken in an Indian village near Talca.
Both of these photos represent invaluable Collonca genetics that have been infused with that of European stock- but that said- save for the combs, these birds are very good Collonca.
They also bring to mind rather strongly the old Sulawesi singing breed- the Gaga ( no kidding and no relation whatsoever to with the attention vacuum celebritante.)
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Thanks FowlMan! That photo probably is a Shamo. I just love that picture. Reminds me of what the seafarers were thinking of their chooks- they loved them as much as that Rhesus monkey does. Shamos are descendants of the Austronesian race of fowl.
Resolution, I just want to thank you for an absolutely fascinating thread on these ancient breeds. You are right, we need to preserve this incredible genetic treasure, just as we preserve works of art and records of bygone eras. Who knows, were a devastating disease to wipe out commercial flocks, these birds could hold the key to repopulating our culture with domestic chickens.
Thank you not only for this thread, but for the work you do preserving a global heritage.
Resolution, Thanks for the beautiful photos, of landscapes and chickens of this part of the world. It would be to much to ask, if it's posible to get a genealogical tree of the spread of the chickens ,at least in this part of the world? I don't know, a draw, a site,.....thanks.....