Little video of processing the Swedish Helsinge lamb fleece. Helsinge is a heritage breed known for it’s double coat - the inner coat (thel) is super soft and warm, whilst the outer coat (tog) is coarser and shiny. The different properties of the tog & thel make each more suited for certain applications (ie use thel for something warm and toasty for next to skin, & use tog for outwear that needs to endure weather or abraison). To separate the coats you use double tine combs and comb away until all the strong fibers are aligned so the tog can be dized out leaving the thel caught between the tines.
I have recently seen a thread of posts regarding the "heritage breeds" of chicken, thanks to @99tech99 - and I have to add to that, obviously.
"My pet peeve is non-period chickens running about in farmyards. Fairly frequently they will be modern hybrid layer types that did not exist before 1970s."
This movie complaint posted by @gefdreamsofthesea (and originally from Schwarmerei1 probably on the former Twitter) with a question whether a period-accurate chicken breeds still exist made me think of this little Czechoslovak encyclopaedia from Jan Hanzák et al. with beautiful illustrations by Antonín Pospíšil I inherited from my grandma. It is a volume about domesticated animals, and most of it is taken by pigeons. Published in 1965, let's see what they have to say about chicken.
Although the term "heritage breed" does not actually exist in the Czech language, we have quite a lot to say in the matter, for there is one breed historically coming from Bohemia, and this will also be mentioned. So far, @vergess points out some breeds in the thread, like Brahma, Cochin, Barred Plymouth, Fayoumi (often regarded as the oldest breed), Wyandotte, Minorca, and Ayam Cemani with black bones and meat.
So, what does this hefty book from 1965 say about chicken?
(oh, this will be a nightmare to translate)
The process of domestication usually involves selective breeding. We breed chicken for larger yield of meat, eggs, or for sport. The ancestral chicken is the Red junglefowl (Gallus gallus) that was probably hybridized with Grey junglefowl (Gallus sonneratii) according to the paper by Eriksson et al. (2008) that studied the origin of the gene yellow skin. Although it was originally believed that the domestication started between 7000 and 10000 years ago, the newer evidence points out that the chicken domestication happened in Southeast Asia only about 3500 years ago (Peters et al., 2022). Human-driven selection and cross breeding gave rise to a variety of shapes that can be divided into three main categories: lightweight, heavyweight and sport breeds. Of possibly hundreds varieties, only the most common are mentioned in the book.
Some of the notable breeds where we know at least an approximate dates of origin include (more or less chronologically):
Dorking chicken - British breed originating from the ancestor (probably) introduced to the British Isles by Romans in the 1st century.
Czech Gold Brindled Hen - originated in Bohemia, first mention in 1205.
Minorca - Spanish breed from the time of Arab occupation of Andalusia, pre-1492.
Spanish Hen - the ancestral type known in the Ancient Rome, often depicted on paintings by Old Holland masters (17th century).
Bergische Kräher - originated in Germany, ancestral chicken imported from Balkans in the Middle Ages (probably already during the crusades, spread across Europe by Cistercian monks).
Houdan chicken - known from 17th century paintings by Old Holland masters, imported to the U.S. in 1865; similar in appearance is Polish chicken "Crested Dutch" which is probably from Netherlands, but the exact origin is unknown (argued that some of the 17th century paintings are depicting the Crested Dutch breed).
Ostfriesische Möwe - traditional breed of north-western Germany and Netherlands, now very rare, known since 18th century.
Dominique chicken - known from 1750s, considered the oldest American breed of chicken.
White Leghorn - originated in Italy, but bred in the U.S. where it got in 1835. Very popular, classic producer of eggs, a lightweight breed.
Cochin - originated in China and known in the West as "Chinese Shanghai Fowl", imported to Philippines and then around the world in 1840s and 1850s, a heavyweight breed.
Sussex chicken - reared for both meat and eggs, introduced in 1845.
Plymouth Rock - American breed introduced in 1849, ancestor is Dominique chicken.
Brahma - believed to originate in the U.S., but maybe originated in India, it was a principal American meat breed between 1850s and 1930s.
Rhode Island Red - bred in 1854 from many older breeds including Javan and Malay ones.
Faverolles chicken - French breed originated in 1860s.
Wyandotte chicken - American breed from 1870s, cross-bred Brahma, Cochin, Hamburg chicken and other breeds.
Orpington chicken - bred in 1880 in England.
New Hampshire Red - bred over 30 years at the beginning of 20th century.
Eriksson et al. (2008). Identification of the yellow skin gene reveals a hybrid origin of the domestic chicken. PLoS genetics, 4(2), e1000010.
Peters et al. (2022). The biocultural origins and dispersal of domestic chickens. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(24), e2121978119.
the royal palm is a heritage breed of turkey known for its distinctive black barred pattern. a smaller-sized turkey, they have fewer health problems than commercial breeds, are more agile fliers, and tend to have good dispositions for pets.
