6 Popular Breeds Of Exotic Chickens

Exotic chickens may not give you good meat and their eggs are not meant to be served for breakfast (you'd rather allow them to hatch!), but their decorative quality is of great value.

1. Brahma - Best known as the jungle fowl, the cocks are often used for the sport of cockfighting. Brahmas have colorful feathers and markings. Males are aggressive and have iridescent tail plumage.

2. La Fletche - Has a V-shaped, hornlike comb on its head, the plumage is a combination of white grey and black.

3. Polish Fowl - A great crest of fluffy feathers hides the head of this decorative fowl. Its color may be white, brown or black or a combination of two or all colors.

4. Silky - This white exotic breed has leathers that look and fee) like long fur. It has a black face and its dark feet .are also covered with fur-like plumage.

5. Yokohama or Japanese fowl - Roosters have tail plumage that may be as long as 6 feet.

6. Malay -Their distinctive trait is the strawberry-like comb, small, rounded and nodular near the eyes.

Health is an important part of your exotic chickens' welfare. They can suffer from diseases like avian leucosis, fowl cholera, parrot fever, salmonella, and toxoplasmosis. Parasites include chicken lice and mites which are easy to control with chemical sprays bought from poultry supplies.

Chickens in Myths and Fiction

The Greeks believed that chickens are sacred to the god of war, Mars. In most occults, they used chickens to tell the future. The priest would scatter seeds or grain and release a sacred chicken to eat it. They can foretell the coming events by the way the fowl pecked at the seeds.

For the Gauls, the rooster is the symbol of courage. It is also the disguise of their war god, Toutatis when he came down to earth to inspect the battlefields.

For the Christians, the rooster is the symbol of Christ's resurrection because it crowed at dawn the time Jesus rose from the dead. The Bible also mentions this humble fowl in the Book of Luke (22:34) where Jesus predicts Peter's denial.

For the Roman Catholics, they believe a white rooster accompanies St. Peter in heaven as he checks out the names of those who will enter the pearly gates.

Because roosters symbolize courage, resurrection, and gives alarm, it has been an emblem of war, royalty and good works in many countries and cultures. It's amazing how much a role chickens played in different cultures.