Standard
Varieties of Chickens:
La Fleche
La Fleche differs in character from the two other
mentioned varieties of French poultry. Houdans are
Crevecoeurs are more compactly built than La Fleche,
the latter being tall and rather gaunt looking, and
in style and character denoting the preponderance of
Spanish blood. Their plumage is a rich, glossy black
throughout. Their comb is peculiar to itself, being
leaf, of moderate size, branching and antler like,
somewhat like to horns pointing upward. They are
extremely delicate constitution and difficult to
raise. The flesh of this fowl is more delicate and
juicy than any variety except the Game. It is a
moderate layer of very large, white eggs, but by no
means so good as the Spanish in this respect; it is
as a table fowl that it claims superiority. It does
not mature early - not nearly so early as the
Houdans or the Crevecoeurs.
The standard weight of cocks is 8 ½ pounds (3.9
kg); hens, 7 ½ pounds (3.4 kg); cockerels, 7 ½
pounds (3.4 kg); and pullets, 6 ½ pounds (2.9 kg).
FOR
FURTHER READING...
The first image below comes from the Oklahoma State
University Department of Animal Science's Poultry
Breeds pages. The second image is
from the FeatherSite, "an on-line zoological garden of domestic poultry". The La Fleche
page at Oklahoma and the La Fleche page at FeatherSite contain further information about this breed's
history and more images of these fowl. Clicking on
each image takes you to the page specifically about
that particular variety.
Image Credits
(from left to right):
Copyright © 1996, Oklahoma State University
Board of Regents;
Courtesy of Jan Ubels
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