Siberian Chicken

     The Siberian is an extremely rare Chickens breed from Russia. The first written document about this chicken breed dates back to the middle of the 19^th century. However, evidences support the bird’s existence since the 17^th century. The Siberian got standardized by the beginning of the 20^th century, and later the bird was lost permanently in the middle of the same century. Luckily, a remarkable discovery for this chicken breed happened few years ago, and a restoration program has started since then.

     The Siberian is a magnificent bird indeed, with a shiny black plumage that made it highly prized in poultry shows. It has a V-shaped comb and small wattles, that are mostly covered by the bird’s beard and crest. The Siberian has also red earlobes, which are completely covered in hens, and partially covered in roosters and cockerels. The bird has always feathered legs and a well-developed tail.

     Siberian hens are good layers of white eggs (around 150 – 180 eggs per year of weight 55 – 60 g per each). They also tend to go broody, and make wonderful and attentive mothers. The Siberian is a small bird indeed, but it yields a good carcass when slaughtered, which makes him a good dual-purpose bird.

     Siberians ware available in the white and the cuckoo color-varieties in the past, but now it’s available only in the black color-variety. Also, in the old Russian standard it had a rose comb instead, so the current standard for the bird is still being updated.