The Vorwerk is a breed

Breed

A breed is a group of domestic animals or plants with a homogeneous appearance, behavior, and other characteristics that distinguish it from other animals or plants of the same species. Despite the centrality of the idea of "breeds" to animal husbandry, there is no scientifically accepted...

 of chicken

Chicken

The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...

 originating in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. Though it is unrelated to the German company

Vorwerk (company)

Vorwerk is an international diversified corporate group headquartered in Wuppertal, Germany. The main business is the direct distribution of various products like household appliances , fitted kitchens or cosmetics...

 which produces the Vorwerk vacuum cleaner

Vacuum cleaner

A vacuum cleaner, commonly referred to as a "vacuum," is a device that uses an air pump to create a partial vacuum to suck up dust and dirt, usually from floors, and optionally from other surfaces as well. The dirt is collected by either a dustbag or a cyclone for later disposal...

, it is the only chicken to share its name with a brand of household appliance. A rare fowl, it has distinctive black and gold plumage.

History

Beginning in 1900, poultry breeder Oskar Vorwerk began to create a medium-sized, utilitarian fowl with the belted plumage pattern of the Lakenvelder

Lakenvelder (chicken)

Lakenvelders or Lakenfelders are a breed of chicken developed in the 1830’s in Germany despite their Dutch name. Characteristics of the breed are black head, collar, and tail, white body, white skin and slate colored legs. The Lakenvelder is a flighty breed that is a good forager if allowed to free...

. The key difference in appearance would be the Vorwerk's dark golden base color, rather than the white of the Lakenvelder. Thus, his chicken is sometimes called the Golden Lakenvelder, especially in North America. Breeds used to create the Vorwerk included the Lakenvelder, Buff Orpington

Orpington (chicken)

The Orpington is a breed of chicken named after Orpington, England, which was made famous in part by this breed. Belonging to the English class of chickens, it was bred to be an excellent layer with good meat quality...

, Buff Sussex

Sussex (chicken)

The Sussex chicken is a dual purpose breed that originating in England around the time of the Roman conquest of Britain in AD 43 that is a popular backyard chicken in many countries...

 and Andalusian

Andalusian (chicken)

The Andalusian is a breed of chicken originating in the Andalucia region of Spain. Often called the Blue Andalusian for the color accepted for showing by the American Poultry Association, they also appear in Splash and Black...

. By 1913, the Vorwerk was standardized. However, it never really gained widespread use, and is rare or non-existent outside Continental Europe.

Vorwerk bantam

In 1966, a U.S. man named Wilmar Vorwerk of New Ulm, MN developed an interest in the breed, but it had not been exported to North America. Thus, he created a bantam

Bantam (chicken)

A bantam is a small variety of poultry, especially chickens. Etymologically, the name bantam is derived from the city of Bantam - currently known as "Banten Province" or previously "Banten Residency" - once a major seaport, in Indonesia...

 version from scratch using Lakenvelders, Buff and Blue Wyandottes

Wyandotte (chicken)

The Wyandotte is a breed of chicken originating in the United States. The first examples of the breed appeared in 1870s. Wyandottes are a docile, dual-purpose breed kept for their brown eggs and for meat. They appear in a wide variety of color patterns, and are popular show birds. The Wyandotte...

, Black-tailed Buff and Buff Columbian Rosecomb

Rosecomb

The Rosecomb is a breed of chicken named for its distinctive comb. Rosecombs are bantam chickens, and are among those known as true bantams, meaning they are not a miniaturized version of a large fowl. Rosecombs are one of the oldest and most popular bantam breeds in showing, and thus have numerous...

s. European fanciers have also independently miniaturized a bantam Vorwerk. Though the large fowl Vorwerk has never been accepted in the American Poultry Association

American Poultry Association

The American Poultry Association is the oldest poultry organization in the North America. Founded in 1873, and incorporated in Indiana in 1932 The first American poultry show was held in 1849, and the APA was later formed in response to the burgeoning need for an overseeing body to set standards...

's Standard of Perfection, the American Bantam Association has recognized the U.S. version of the Vorwerk Bantam.

Characteristics

Vorwerks are a dual-purpose chicken suitable for both meat and egg production. Standard size males weigh 2.5-3.2 kilos (5.5-7.5 pounds), and females weigh 2-2.5 kilos (4.5-5.5 pounds). Bantam males are 765 grams (27 ounces), and females are 650 grams (23 ounces). Large Vorwerk hens are good layers of cream colored eggs, and will produce approximately 170 in a year. Bantams are also dual-purpose, but (like all bantams) lay smaller eggs and fewer of them.

Vorwerks are hardy, adaptable birds with economical appetites. In temperament, they are alert and active, but not necessarily flighty. In terms of plumage, their head, neck and tail are solid black, with the rest a buff color. The ideal of breed standard

Breed standard

A breed standard in animal fancy and animal husbandry is a set of guidelines which is used to ensure that the animals produced by a breeder or breeding facility conform to the specifics of the breed....

s call for no black spotting in the buff areas, but in practicality this is very difficult to breed. Vorwerks sport a single comb

Comb (anatomy)

Anatomically, a comb is a fleshy growth, caruncle, or crest on the top of the head of gallinaceous birds, most notably turkeys, pheasants, and domestic chickens...

, slate grey underfluff, and white earlobes.

External links

• Vorwerks at feathersite, including photos