By: Elly Vogelaar Photos: Aviculture Europe Today we are going to visit Diny Oonk (picture above). It is a bright, sunny day in February as we leave the highway at Deventer heading for Neede. We used to travel to this part of Holland more often; many top breeders live here and you saw chicken coops or chickens running free everywhere. Today it is different; many villages we pass, Gorsel, Laren, Lochem... but no birds to be seen, it seems to be abandoned! This week the order came all birds to be kept inside because of the threatening chicken flu. You would almost think all Dutch poultry had landed at the butchers... Diny Oonk In this part of the country Diny Oonk will be without doubt very well known, because she has been secretary of the local club at Neede for many years as well as of the Spilbroek show. Quite a big show with 1435 entries last year. In our opinion special because 30 juveniles entered birds in this show. That is something you will not find anywhere in the western part of the country! Diny s passion are Appenzeller Sennen dogs, the smaller size of the Berner Sennen. As long as she can remember they had them on the farm. Unfortunately her last dog died last year and now she is thinking if she will have a new one ore not. Understandable, because this is a breed that should be among people and not be put in a kennel, so it is hard if you want to travel sometimes. Diny has a busy social life with many contacts in the world of dogs and poultry, this latter since 1985. After they stopped having utility chickens she decided to join the local club as a member to start breeding fancy poultry. At first she kept the North Holland Blue and Australorp, but after someone told her there was an Appenzeller poultry breed, she could not stop thinking about that. With all her heart she loved the area of Appenzell in Switzerland and beside
the dogs there had to come an Appenzeller breed of chickens, best would be Appenzeller Spitzhauben in black. This brought her to Herman van Olst s father, who in those days used to have different colours of the Appenzeller Spitzhauben. Apart from that she collected some eggs from Switzerland and made her own flock that way. However, she was not really content with the blacks. They were rather small and the breed was very wild. After digging some more she found out that there was another Appelzeller breed, the Barthuhn. This breed was heavier and less wild, but was not yet recognized in Holland. This was a hurdle Diny would overcome; she went to Switzerland and took eggs of the breed back to Holland. The quality was soon so good that they could be recognized. First the blacks in 1991 and after that the partridge in 1999. The Appenzeller Barthuhn It is a pity that only a few fanciers keep this breed because the birds are so lovely to see. From this breed we know rather well how it was developed. According to the Swiss breed club they were made in 1860 by a farmer called Züst, from the village of Wolhalden in the north of the Canton of Appenzell. This man hated combs and wattles of his chickens being frozen in winter when they were kept outside. He recalled the old Barthuhn his father used to have and decided to breed them again. On a poultry show he saw a breed that was entered under the name Pausbäckchen. Those birds had rosecombs and very small wattles hidden in a beard. Immediately he decided to buy some and cross them with his own birds. That worked out very well and the next year he picked out the best rosecombs and beards and crossed them in again. The lay still was very well and no more frozen combs so he went on breeding his Bartli-Hühner as they were called. Soon other farmers were interested in the strong and hardened breed and came to Züst for breeding eggs. After they had been judged well on a show they were recognized in the black colour as a new breed with the name Appenzeller Barthuhn. 1950 the breed
was nearly extinct. Different crossings were made to flow new life into the breed. Breeds used were Thüringer Barthuhn, Rhinelanders and even Faverolles. In spite of that all they kept the strong, heavy type. The Appenzeller Barthuhn has a strong build body with broad shoulders; the back slowly declines to the middle high carried, in both sexes richly feathered, tail. Leg colour is black or black with a blue shining. It is important that the feathers are not carried too lose and that the thighs are clearly visible. The abdomen of the hens is well proportioned. The middle large head with dark brown eyes has a quite broad, low rosecomb with a leader going straight backward. The small wattles should be completely covered by the beard. A beard that should not be as big as possible, but middle sized and should not influence the visibility. In Switzerland temper and mobility are a demand in this heavy build breed. Surely this hardened breed was created for running free all the year and seeks their own food. The Swiss breed Club is not just watching the external bird, but also the vitality and laying capacity, which even in older hens should be good. Photos: Partridge coloured Appenzeller barthühner The grandson of Züst, Walter Züst, succeeded to breed them in partridge, a hundred years after his grandfathers black Bartli. This he realised by crossing in a golden Leghorn. Here we have different stories. Some say that partridge was the original colour which had disappeared for many years. This partridge colour in Switzerland is called Rebhuhnfarbig. Compared to normal partridge the golden coloured parts are redder and the hen has lighter webbing in the feathers of the back, the shoulders and the body. Meanwhile in Switzerland they are also recognized in blue. Also recognized are the Appenzeller Barthuhn bantams.
Pictures left and below: Diny Oonk with one of here Appenzeller Barthen. huhns, a partridge The partridge colour in this breed is redder and shows lighter webbing. The Appenzeller Spitzhauben Different to what most people think, the Spitzhauben is really a different breed, not a variation with or without a beard! The Appenzeller Spitzhauben is a less heavy breed, and so it shows. The cocks are 1.5 till 1.8 kg and the hens weigh 1.5 kg maximum. The head is rather small than middle large and they have no rosecomb but a comb horn type consisting of two small rounded separate spikes with a medium-sized pointed crest bent forward like in our Brabanters. They have no beard but nicely rounded wattles and medium-sized white earlobes. The eye colour is dark brown. It is a neat, elegant breed with a thin, slightly arched neck and a broad, full breast, carried high. Their appearance looks proud. They should represent themselves in the show cage knowing of their noble appearance. In Holland they are recognized in 4 colours: silver spangled, gold spangled, lemon spangled and black.
All 4 colours are still present in Holland, although the lemon spangled and the black are rare. The blacks there are, really are too small. In Switzerland also the blue is recognized and in Germany they also have gold white spangled. The Dutch standards speak of tipped ore spangled. The black tips at the end of each feather are not as big as for instance the spangles of the Hamburg. That makes the appearance of the bird less black. The markings are in between tipped and spangled really. Also the tail feathers are spangled but some gold, silver or lemon (depending on the version) in the main tail feathers is allowed. On the left: silver spangled Appenzeller Spitshaube. Photo: Andy Kräuchi, Germany. The Appenzeller Spitzhauben was also first bred in the Canton of Appenzell. The breed in this area is a monument and is also called Gásser-schnáfli or Tschüpperli. These words can not be tr anslated, but mean as much as chicken of the street ore little crest. The history of the Appenzeller Spitzhauben is really unknown. The only thing one knows more ore less, is that their ancestors probably are Crêve Coeur and La Flêche, two French breeds. Also mentioned is a Russian crested breed, but most likely the Dutch Brabanter is the nearest related breed. A nice coincidence is that the cloth hats the ladies wear to their traditional clothing is much alike to the forward bended crest of the poultry breed. Still the question remains: what was first, the hats ore the chickens? On the right: a young lady in Appenzeller traditional clothing
Diny on her birds To Diny one thing is clear: chickens ought to run free around the farm. This way she can have a look at them from each window. Now the birds have to stay inside because of the threatening flu, there is nothing to look at, she says. Of course she has coops and stables, even large ones, but her birds are used to running free. These two breeds are most happy living outside. At night they often sleep in the trees or on a high fence. Sometimes Diny attempts to get them inside with some food, but if they prefer to stay outside it is all right too. At least they can go into the stables if they want to. She never worries about crooked breastbones the birds might get from sitting on the branches of the trees. When she locked them up for that reason, they never sat on the perfect roost, but usually ended up somewhere in a corner high in the stable on a tiny ridge. They didn t even get crooked breastbones from that.
She is speaking of the Spitzhauben now, which do fly very well. If you want them to run free you will have to have quite high fences. I ask her about trouble with foxes. Touch wood, she says, until now no foxes have been seen yet. Pole cats and stoats are around sometimes, but did not yet given trouble. Left: At Robert Knechtli s 1997, Gaes, Swiss. Both breeds do have very different characters. The Spitzhauben are more shy, always fly when someone is coming. She never had an aggressive cock of this breed though. They never do attack and the cocks can be kept together a long time without fighting. Barthuhns are different. They are very docile, but cocks may attack if you get too close to their hens! Both breeds are really well hardened against cold, except the black Spitzhauben, which may have frost damage because they have long wattles. That is an inheritance of the La Flêche, the breed they were created from. Laying capacity is very good. The eggs weigh 60 to 65 grams and are of white colour from the Spitzhauben. Those of the Barthuhns have some shade of colour. At the moment Diny has Appenzeller Barthuhns in black and partridge and Appenzeller Spitzhauben in gold spangled. She takes every chance to advertise her favourite breeds. Today she invited Herman van Olst over to show us the silver spangled, in this case the bantam variety. Herman van Olst The name Van Olst will be often found when you look into the history of the Appenzeller Spitzhauben. Herman s father already had the gold spangled Spitzhauben in 1970. Usually in those days you only saw the silver spangled. Because the golden spangled were recognized in Germany they were automatically recognized in Holland without any formalities. Those were the days! On the right: Herman van Olst with one of his creations, the Appenzeller Spitzhauben bantam.
Van Olst senior changed his gold spangled for black Spitzhauben from Switzerland. Those he had recognized by the normal procedure. The breed did not really get popular. Herman thought that could be better when there would be bantams of the breed. In 1980 he started crossing to make the bantams. It was a long way to go, because he wanted the tail of the bantams to be spangled too. He started crossing Owl Beard bantams and Appenzeller Spitzhauben. After some years he found this was not the right way to go. He started all over again, this time using a white splash Dutch bantam hen. After 12 generations he finally had the result he wanted. In 2003 he had his silver spangled bantams recognized. The gold spangled bantams in 2004. A minor point in this enthusiastic Appenzeller story is, that he wanted the birds to be recognized as Gelderse kriel (Gelderland is the province where Herman lives) or as Spitzhauben bantam, but the standard-commission thought they were too much look-alikes to the Appenzeller Spitzhauben, so they should be recognized as Appenzeller Spitzhauben bantams. Herman is now content with it. This means that the breed sorts under the Club van Appenzellerfokkers. Appenzeller Spitzhauben bantams, gold spangled, with spangled tails. Club van Appenzellerfokkers ( Club of Appenzeller breeders) This is an unofficial club that has existed for more than ten years now. It has no board, no written rules and no fixed dues. The Club consists of 15 women and men who meet one day every year, most of the times at Diny s, to have a look at, and discuss each others birds.
The birds are not really judged, but there is always a judge present who is willing to help on these very cosy days. To help each other, breeding stock is exchanged and birds get new owners without money being involved. Unavoidably the question arises whether the inbreeding is not too strong. Herman always says not to be afraid of inbreeding. He has been doing nothing else in the last thirty years. One should select on faults; little faults can have huge consequences. Silver spangled Appenzeller Spitzhauben bantam hen of Herman van Olst. Showing Diny always shows some Appenzeller Barthunhs and Spitzhauben on the Noordshow and of course on the Spilbroek show and some smaller shows in
the region. Herman enters birds in as many shows as possible to promote the breed. They both do show top quality birds. Second best result (96 points) is quite normal. Both Diny and Herman showed birds with the highest result (97 points)! Diny took a lot of pictures of many nice moments with her Appenzeller animals and made an album. There you will also find pictures of trips they made together to the Swiss Appenzeller Club show. They have very good contacts with Appenzeller breeders from Switzerland and Germany. The best silver spangled ones you find in Switzerland, they both agree, but the best gold spangled ones you will find in the Netherlands. A load of pictures Such photogenic breeds invite you to take many pictures. I came home with a load of pictures and even got some sent to me from Switzerland and Germany. We will be glad to take as many of them to go with the article. This to say thank you for the time we spent in Neede and we hope to help promote these rare, but oh so adorable breeds. On the left: Gold white spangled, recognized in Germany. Picture: Andy Kräuchi, Germany. Anyone who would like to know more about this breed can contact the Dutch Club of Appenzeller breeders: Tjeerd Bijl e-mailaddress: a.c.t.bijl@umail.leidenuniv.nl Or the Klub der Appenzellerund Schweizerhuhn-Züchter: Ferdi Eugster, Taastrasse 41, 9442 Berneck, Switserland, Copyright 2006 Aviculture- Europe. All rights reserved by VBC