Pollo di Altastiria - Altsteirer - Styrian Chickens

Hallo - Ciao to this nice forum.

Some time ago I find the page of agraria.org because of the race pollo di Altastiria or vecchia stria.
But I only see the pictures of the wildbrown type.

But in the offical European Standart there are two colours: the wildbrown and the white one.

Let me show you a few interessting pictures and I hope the the further informations about the history is also interesting for you.

Greetings from Bavaria, Germany

Erich

First I will show you pictures of the white type (it is offical in the German and Austrian breed standart)

I take this year some hatching eggs from the Austrian/Slowenian boarder, from a people I thing that he have chickens without any crossing of other races like the people in Germany habe it.

A day old baby chicken:


young chickens with there broody:


young chickens




a young hen


a old cockerel (died this sommer)


white Styrian chickens in there homeland the Steiermark in Austria



and a few of my own older young chickens in white

The Styrian hen - Pollo di Altastiria in Italy, Altsteirer Huhn in German - is the native breed of hen in Slovene and Austrian Styria. It originates in the region between the rivers Mura and Sava in the Slovene part of Styria and in the southern part of Austrian Styria. In the past four varieties of color appeared: light brown, white, barred and partridge-colored. The last one is the most spread and preserved.

In 1897 a breeding center for the Styrian hen was founded in Celje by the Association for Care and Rearing, but it was later moved to Maribor. In 1898 Emanuel Martiny began to stimulate the selection of the Styrian hen in Graz. Armin Arbeiter, who organized the breeding in Celje, called it the "Celje Hen". In 1900 the Association for Care and Rearing of Animals was founded in Celje in order to preserve and improve the breed by selection.
In 1902 names "the Celje Hen" and "the Old Styrian Hen" were omitted and since then it has been called the Styrian Hen. The Styrian Agricultural Company organized the first symposium in which the merits of the Styrian hen were stressed. The basic description of the breed was formed. The "Celje Hen" is the white type of this race.



The roots of this breed are in the old chickens of the Sainted Roman Empire wich ended in 18.. and was a kind of the german land chicken.
A rest of this populations was in the Steiermark (Now Austria and Slowenia) at the end of the Sainted Roman Empire. From this chickens there was a way to the lighter wildbrown type in the Upper Steiermark (Austria) and to the a little bit heavier white type in the Down Steiermark (Slowenia) - as written before the white type from Celje.
First notices was found about this type of breed in the 14 century.
Than in 1846 Professore Hlubek wrote in a newspaper about the egg layin in a year for round 100-160 per year and hatching natural at 12-15 egg a hen that 10 chickens ar coming.
From 1894 i have a copy of a old standart description with a picture.
From 1914 i have a reprint of a book from Armin Arbeiter "Handbuch der Nutzgeflügelzucht für Österreich und die Donauländer"
Than after the second world war this race is going down, because of the new industrie poultrys. 20-30 years ago the population of this breed was quite to zero. Only 5 hens and 2 cockerels are found in Germany and Austria white the original blood.
But than a few people starts to save this race and till now the type wildbrown is quite save with about 5000 animals. But the white one is always a rare kind of breed with about 100-500 animals.

Further Information:

- eggs are ivory - white coloured with a weight from around min. 55 gr.
- about 180 egg the first, 150 eggs the second year
- weight cockerel 2-3kg, hen 1,75 -2,5kg
- they are good foragers, if the runout is open and really big
- at the moment only white and wildbrown is offical in the German/Austrian Standart

I really appreciated your news about this breed. I follow you also in the Cocincina forum. I sent you some pictures of this breed; Did you see it?
For me they are really interesting because they show colors very rare. I think that in the first photo that now I will send you the color is Collo argento in italian linguage. I didn't see it before. moreover I see the silouette of an other color that it is not the wildbrown.
What do you think about it?

unfortunately in these websites there are not illustrations of the breed. You could give to them some help for example giving them photos and other news.

http://www.vegh.at/rassen/ausgabe/ausga ... Altsteirer

http://www.arche-austria.at/index.php?id=309

Allegati

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alessiozanon ha scritto:I really appreciated your news about this breed. I follow you also in the Cocincina forum. I sent you some pictures of this breed; Did you see it?
For me they are really interesting because they show colors very rare. I think that in the first photo that now I will send you the color is Collo argento in italian linguage. I didn't see it before. moreover I see the silouette of an other color that it is not the wildbrown.
What do you think about it?

unfortunately in these websites there are not illustrations of the breed. You could give to them some help for example giving them photos and other news.

Hello alessiozanon,

I knew this pictures. The first is in a reprint of Armin Arbeiters book of Poultry from the year 1914. In those book there are a few more interessting pictures. The other is from the poultry standart from 1894 or 1926 and the other I think is from Peter Pensold book about the Styrian chickens. Where do you sent the pictures?

Regards from Bavaria
altSteirer

After the very rare white type I want to show you the wildbrown type .

Ein Küken, einen halben Tag alt - a day old chicken:


Küken ganz frisch geschlüpft - a small chicken after it comes out from the egg


und die drei samt Glucke - the young chickens with her broody



Küken mit Glucke


Die sind dann mit 3-4 Wochen schon sehr selbständig - after 3-4 weeks the young Altsteirer are very independently



Alttiere - Old Altsteirer Chickens
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Now to colours wich are not in the offical standart, but they are existing and are true Altsteirer without crossing other races into that kind of breed.

eine gesperberte Altsteirer Henne - a barred hen


zwei Junghähne, 8 Wochen alt - two youn barred cockerels


zwei Junghähne, 18-20 Wochen alt


This is my favorite cockerel and the father of the first generation of barred Altsteirers

and the blue ones, they are very pretty.

Junghenne, 8 Wochen alt in blau-kupfer


Junghahn 9 Wochen alt in blau-goldhalsig (mitte)


This are the parents from my blue rooster.
Die Elterntiere des blau-goldhalsigen Junghahns (Fotos von Karl S.)

Since the first young chickens came out of there eggs in march a lot happens.

Now you can see them nearly became big.







in the garden



This is one of to special hens, it is a cross between a white Altsteirer Cockerel and a wildbrown hen, she is really pretty:


Gruß
aus Bayern
altSteirer

Very very nice, congratulation for your animals and for your professionality. I hope that you can make a collaboration with the austrian web site that I told you.

The immages that I shown you are the same of that are in the Cocincina forum.


Ciao Alessio