Transylvanian Naked Neck Chicken Breeds
The neck, partly the breast and the belly of Transylvanian Naked Neck chickens are characteristically featherless. Also on the top of the head there is only a little plumage. There are several colour varieties of it; formerly the white was the most common. Its body conformation resembles to that of the Hungarian chicken, but the trunk is bigger, longer and oval-shaped and the breast is round, just like that of wild birds. Wings are longer and more pointed than that of the Hungarian chicken. At the beginning of the 20th century Transylvanian Naked Neck chickens still have been considered as first class farm breeds. They are extraordinarily hardy, firm and resistant. They grow and feather fast. They perform good egg production under suitable conditions. Eggs are usually brown or cream coloured, but white egg shells may occur, as well. In some regions it was respected as a very good winter layer. It has been bred in yellow, speckled sand white colour varieties in Gödöllő from the beginning of the 1950s. In the present gene bank stock we conserve and reproduce the white, black and speckled varieties as separate breeds – just like in the case of the Hungarian chicken. It is typical in all three breeds that the face, wattle, ear-lob, comb and head (especially the hind part of it) of cocks is blood-red, while that of hens is of somewhat lighter shade (except the hind part of the head, which is always blood-red). Orange red and fierce eyes in all breeds, but specifically in the Black Naked Necks are a requirement. Beak, shank and toes of the white and speckled Transylvanian Naked Neck chickens are ivory white, while that of the black one are dark slate-grey.