Large fowl

Origin: Switzerland

Classification: Light, soft feather

Egg colour: Spitzhauben, white; Barthuhner, tinted

Weight: Large fowl; male 1.6 – 2kg, female 1.35 – 1.6kg.

History

Appenzellers come in two types, the Spitzhauben, which may date from the seventeenth century, and the Barthuhner, which was created in the 1860s. In the 1950s both breeds were revived, having almost died out during WWII.

Characteristics

Spitzhauben

Male

Carriage: neat and very active

Type: well-rounded body, medium long and walnut shaped. Breast, full, carried high. Wings rather long, carried close. Tail, well furnished, well spread and at right angles to the back. Abdomen well developed. Back of medium length, slightly sloping with full hackle.

Head: medium-sized, held high, with typical raised skull and medium-sized pointed crest bent forward. Face smooth. Comb, horn-type consisting of two small rounded spikes, separate and without side sprigs. Wattles moderately long and fine. Ear lobes medium sized, oval. Beak powerful with strong cavernous nostrils and a prominent horseshoe ridge to the beak with a small fleshy knob at the front. Eyes prominent and alert.

Neck: medium length, slightly arched with abundant hackle.

Legs and feet: thighs slender and prominent, shanks medium length, fine. Four, well-spread toes.

Plumage: fairly tight and hard.

Female

As for the male, except for a more horizontal back line and allowing for the natural sex differences.

Colours: silver spangled, gold spangled, black.

In both sexes and all colours, the beak should be bluish, eyes dark brown, comb, face and wattles bright red and the ear-lobes bluish white. The shanks should be blue.

Defects: comb other than horn, side sprigs, narrow or roach back, squirrel tail, breast too deep or narrow, long wing carriage, tail lacking fullness, crow beak, nostril not cavernous, bad stance, feathering on shanks.