The Padovana or Padovana dal gran ciuffo is a historic Italian breed of small crested and bearded chicken. It takes its name from – and is located in – the city of Padova and the surrounding province, in the Veneto region of Eastern Italy. While there has – and continues to be – considerable debate about its true origins, Padovana is accepted in Italy as an indigenous Italian breed.
History
The early history of the Padovana is vague and is still a matter of debate, particularly with regard to its connections to the Polish and Dutch crested (Hollandse Kuifhoen [nl]) and Dutch bearded crested (Nederlandse Baardkuifhoen [nl]) breeds, which are often said to have originated in the Netherlands, in Poland, in Russia, or in other parts of Europe. Additionally, it is frequently stated that the Padovana was introduced from Poland to Italy by the "Marquis" Giovanni Dondi dell'Orologio (1330–1388). However, the Dondi in question, who was ennobled, was the soldier Francesco Dondi, who was made Marquis by John III Sobieski, King of Poland, in 1676; there is no evidence of Giovanni Dondi ever traveling to or having contact with Poland in the fourteenth century.
There are two examples of crested chickens in Europe in Roman times: the two marble statuettes of crested chickens that Alessandro Ghigi visited in Rome in 1927 in the Vatican Museum's Sala degli Animali, dating to the first or second century AD; and a chicken skull excavated at West Hill, Uley, Gloucestershire, England, dating to the fourth century that has the characteristic cerebral hernia of the crested breeds.
The first iconographic evidence of the breed in Padova is the fresco of theannunciation painted in 1397, by Jacopo da Verona, located in the Oratorio di San Michele, in Padova, and showing a peasant woman feeding a crested hen and her chicks.
The Padovana is desribed and illustrated as gallina patavina in the writings of Bolognese naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi in the second part of his ornithology, Ornithologiae tomus alter cum indice copiosissimo variarum linguarum published in Bologna in 1600.
As of the twenty-first century, numbers of the breed remain low. In a study in 2007 as a point of reference, a figure of approximately 1200 was given for total breeding stock, of which approximately 300 were cocks.
Characteristics
Nine colour varieties are recognized for the Padovana, of which six are well-known and detailed in earlier treatises - white, black, silver-laced, gold-laced, buff-laced, and the so-called "sparrowhawk" variety. Skin colour is generally white, while leg colour is either slate or black. The Padovana has no comb; wattles are minute; ear-lobes are small, whitish-coloured and completely covered in feathering by the crest. Body weight is 1.8-2.3 kg (cocks), 1.5-2.0 kg (hens). The eggs are laid in a range of colours from cream to light brown, weighing around 50-60 g.