From "The New Look of Poultry" by Lewis Wright, 1902
RUSSIAN FOWLS.
"Very little has been known as to the fowls chiefly met with in Russia. From time to time reference has been made in various books to fowls which were called 'Russian,' having certain special characteristics, but until the Poultry Exhibition held at St. Petersburg in 1899 I never met with any of these birds.
"In an interesting paper which was read at the Congress held in the Russian capital, it was stated that of the breeds of Russian fowls the first place must be accorded to those Orloffs. called Orloff. The best specimens of this race are all of a very large size, in general the adult cock weighing about 10 lbs., but in some cases they reach 12 lbs. and more, the hens being about 2 lbs. less. The head of these birds is large, nearly round, without the slightest sign of crest, but with heavy whiskers and beard. The hackles swell out below the head into almost a spherical protuberance, but at the base of the neck the feathers lie close, so that the neck appears thinner at the shoulders than above. In body it is large, closely feathered, and very deceptive in the actual weight; in appearance it is not unlike the Indian Game in some respects, although it is not quite so wide in body or heavy in bone, and has a distinct appearance of being deeper in breast, though this is partially due to the fact that the breast is longer and more prominent in front than in the case of the Indian Game. Still it follows that type very largely, and with the exception of the muffs, the head has a similar appearance. Good specimens are rather difficult to obtain. Various suggestions have been made as to the origin of the breed, which is not widely distributed. It has been suggested that it was due to the crossing of the Malay upon the Faverolles or Mantes fowl; but this is denied, and the fact that birds of the Orloff type have been met with for a longer period of time than the Faverolles or Mantes fowls appear to have been known, would indicate that this could not be the origin. As one Russian writer says, the difference between the Orloff and all other species is chiefly in the conformation of the head, which is round and large, the frontal bone being particularly prominent. The conformation of the beak is equally remarkable, no other species having the beak curled as sharply, and which is very evident even in the chickens. The following quotation from a paper read at the St. Petersburg Congress by M. Houdekoff affords all the information obtainable at present.
"' The Orloff fowl has received this name from the fact that it is supposed to have been introduced by Count Orloff-Tschesmensky. This is not, however, very probable, because it was well known by Russians before the time of Count Orloff. We find a description in the work of an unknown writer published in 1774, where it is named " Chlianskaia." Breeders knew the race under the latter denomination until a much later period. Now, without any reason, it is customary to call them the Orloff. The more probable supposition is that they were brought prominently forward by the celebrated horse-breeder, Count Orloff-Tschesmensky, and principally in the province of Ghilan. But he did not give them the name. We may ask whether there are not a few races of domestic fowls, yet unknown, in the centre of Asia? That country has been explored in many parts to a small extent, and it is not impossible that it contains many surprises. It may be that this race of poultry had its origin there, and was not produced in Russia. But we have made it known first to Europe and America.'
"My own observations are that the Orloff is not widely distributed, and it was with considerable difficulty that I secured a trio. Unfortunately both the hens died before they bred, and I have not yet succeeded in securing other specimens. Hence I have no experience as to their qualities, but they would appear to me to be moderate layers, but good in table properties. There are three colours: 1st, dark mahogany; 2nd, speckled; 3rd, white. The first named is the most wonderful in sheen and colour of any fowls I have seen.
"A very interesting class of fowl is that called the Pavloff, and so far as I can learn it is really the progenitor of what we now call the Polish. There were quite a number Pavloff. of these birds exhibited at the St.
Petersburg show, both by Russians and Germans, and they are evidently found in the border sections of these two countries. They differ, however, very distinctly from the Western European Polish, but some of the same characteristics are present, though in a less degree. These birds are much smaller than our Polish, and have feathers upon the legs, in some cases being very thickly feathered, but they are also crested, though the crests are small and differ distinctly from the Polish in shape. As is well known, the crest of the Polish fowls is large and round, whereas these are small. In some cases the crest feathers stand almost erect upon the head; in others there is a transverse line on the top of the head, part of the feathers falling back and the others to the front; a third form was that the larger number of the feathers fall forward over the face like a fringe, with only a few standing up behind; and a fourth had the majority falling behind like a lady's veil thrown back, with a few in front. In no case do the feathers cover the eyes, as is the case with our Polish fowl, and not only can we trace to this breed the Polish, but it is also more than probable that the Sultans, which came to us from Turkey, are sports therefrom. The beards and whiskers are very thick, quite covering the ear-lobes.
"In respect to this breed M. Houdekoff says: 'There are in Russia some crested and muffed fowls which are known under the name of Pavloff. These fouls are original, and have definite characters which distinguish them. They have received the name " Pavloff," because they are bred principally at Pavlovsk in the Government of Nijni-Novgorod, where, it is said, they were introduced by the Empress Catherine II. There are two varietiesthe Gold and the Silver. Another breed is called the Russian Dutch, and this is similar to the Whitecrested Black Polish, but has not so large crest, and has a great deal of red in the plumage. The plumage of the others is as in golden and silver Spangled Hamburghs, the groundcolour being golden-bay or silver-white, the feathers ending in both cases with a round, black spangle. The legs and feet are slaty blue.'"
Russian statements respecting the antiquity of the above breeds may perhaps be received with some scepticism. The photographs which we have seen of Orloffs, irresistibly suggest a cross of Indian Game; and all known of the spread of breeds of poultry, makes it far more probable that the great Polish race should have spread from south to north, than from north to south. Mr. Brown also forwards Standards published by the RussianPoultry Society of four other breeds, of which he has no personal knowledge, and which did not appear at the St. Petersburg Exhibition of 1899. They are named as Ushanki, Russian Crested, Siberian Eeather-footed, and Rose-combed. Except that the Feather-footed seems in many points to resemble the Sultan, it is difficult to gather any definite ideas from these descriptions beyond the general prevalence (except in the Rose-combed) of crest and whiskers among Russian fowls.
