Penedesenca

The Penedesenca breed originated in the Penedès region of the province of Catalonia in northeast Spain. When the breed neared extinction in the 1980s, Dr. Amadeu Francesch in Catalonia rescued it and eventually developed four varieties: black, partridge, wheaten and creole, also sometimes referred to as crele by backyard flock owners. The first Penedesencas were imported into the U.S. in 2001 and are still very, very rare here. None of the varieties has been accepted into poultry standards. According to Wikipedia, the breed is more common in Central and South America.

Henderson’s Chicken Breed Chart (http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jh enderson/chooks/chooks.html) describes the Penedesenca as having white skin and blue-gray shanks. Photos posted by growers on several web sites show that the carnation comb starts out as a single comb in the front and branches into several lobes in the back. Some people refer to it as a “king’s crest” or a crown. Developed in the Mediterranean region, this breed is very hardy in hot weather. Some growers report that the birds are also cold hardy.

Contrary to most chickens, the Penedesenca has white earlobes but does not lay white eggs. Rather, it is famous for its very dark red-brown, almost chocolate-colored eggs, which are small to medium in size. The hens are slow to mature and average four pounds; they do not typically go broody. Penedesencas, affectionately referred to as “Penes” by breeders and growers, do well on free range because they are active foragers and flighty, always on the lookout for predators. They do not usually make good pets because they are nervous and prefer to avoid people.

Most Penedesencas have a lean “Mediterranean” build and are kept primarily for production of their unique eggs, some of which have dark brown speckles. Some descriptions of the breed say they lay copious quantities of eggs, and other accounts report that egg production is variable. The Penedesenca breed joins Maran, Welsummer and Barnevelder as producers of the darkest chicken eggs.

The black variety, also called Gall del Penedès or Penedesenca Negra, is heavier than the other varieties because it was developed as a meat bird and serves as a dual-purpose breed. The creole variety is autosexing – newborn cockerel chicks will always be grey, and pullet chicks will always be brown.

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Interesting Stuff
Starting a Chicken Farm

It seems there was a man who came from the city wanting to start a chicken farm of his very own. He was sent to a local hatchery to purchase some chicks to start the enterprise. He went in and purchased 500 fine White Rocks chicks to start the farm up. The next week he came back to the hatchery and purchased 500 top quality Rhode Island Reds chicks. The following week it was 500 Cornish chicks and so on and so on for many weeks. Finally, the hatchery man could stand it no longer and said, "Wow you must be starting a huge poultry farm with all of these chicks!" "Not so big really, "said the city slicker, "I'm just having a little trouble with this first crop. I can't tell if I'm planting them too deep or too close together."

submitted by "Heif"

Did You Know?
Egg Nutrition

Eggs contain the highest quality protein you can buy. Egg protein has just the right mix of essential amino acids needed by humans to build your own tissues. In addition, eggs have thirteen essential vitamins and minerals. Eggs contain the highest quality food protein known. It is second only to mother's milk for human nutrition.

Egg yolk is one of the few foods that contain Vitamin D. Egg yolk is the major source of the egg's vitamins and minerals. A large egg contains only 75 calories and 5 grams of fat. Egg yolks are one of the few foods that naturally contain Vitamin D. Eggs have no vitamin C because the chick can produce it from food it eats.