Black Shumen
Cock | |
Hen | |
| Conservation status | |
|---|---|
| Other names | |
| Country of origin | Bulgaria |
| Distribution | Stara Zagora Province |
| Use | eggs |
| Traits | |
| Weight | |
| Skin colour | white[2] |
| Egg colour | greyish white |
| Comb type | single |
| Classification | |
| |
The Black Shumen is a Bulgarian breed of chicken. It originates in Shumen Province, in north-eastern Bulgaria. In the mid-twentieth century it was cross-bred with Minorca chickens and later, briefly, with Rhode Island Red birds.[3]
In the twenty-first century it is an endangered breed; one flock of about 200 birds is maintained at the Agricultural Institute of Stara Zagora.
History
Black chickens showing some Mediterranean characteristics – a large comb, falling to one side in hens; high production of white eggs; early maturation – were traditionally reared in in Shumen Province, in north-eastern Bulgaria, and in the valley of the Kamchiya River, which flows eastward to the Black Sea. Between 1951 and 1989, birds of this type were selectively bred at the Agricultural Institute of Stara Zagora (Zemedelski Institut Stara Zagora) at Malko Kadievo, near the city of Stara Zagora. After an initial phase of cross-breeding with black Minorca cocks, the Black Shumen was recognised as a breed. in the 1960s and 1970s an attempt was made to increase the size of the birds by cross-breeding with Rhode Island Red stock; this did not last long.[3]: 7
In the latter twentieth century the Black Shumen was widely distributed, in farms, schools, agricultural colleges and research institutes. With the changes that followed the Fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, breed numbers dropped sharply. In the twenty-first century there is only one flock of the birds, that at the Agricultural Institute of Stara Zagora.[3]: 7 In 2026 this numbered 200 birds, 180 hens and 20 cocks;[2] the conservation status of the breed was reported as "at risk/endangered-maintained".[2]
Characteristics
The Black Shumen is black with green lights; the shanks and feet are slate-grey, the skin is white (unpigmented) and the beak is black.[3]: 8 [2] The comb is large, with five to seven points; the earlobes are elongated and the wattles are large. Comb, wattles and earlobes are all bright red;[3]: 8 in hens the comb droops to one side or the other.[3]: 8
It is a light breed: weights are variously given as 1.3–1.6 kg for hens and 1.8–1.9 kg for cocks,[4] or as 1.5–1.8 kg for hens and 2.0–2.5 kg respectively.[3]: 6
Use
It is early-maturing; on average, hens start laying at 145[3]: 6 or at 173 days old.[4] Egg production is variously reported as either 150–155[4] or 160–170[3] greyish-white eggs per year, weighing either 45–47 g[4] or 53–55 g.[3][a]
Notes
- ^ about 1.6 or 2 oz respectively
References
- ^ Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to: The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g Breed data sheet: Cherna shumenska kokoshka / Bulgaria (Chicken). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed March 2026.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Hristo Lukanov (April 2011). Bulgarian Poultry breeds. Aviculture Europe 7 (2).
- ^ a b c d Black shoumenska hen. European Livestock Breeds Ark and Rescue Net. SAVE-Foundation. Archived 23 July 2011.
Further reading
- Величков и колектив, В. (1987). Частно животновъдство. Земиздат.
- колектив (1997). Албум фамилни ферми за производство и породи птици отглеждани в България. PENSOFT. ISBN 954-642-032-8.
- колектив (1996). Отглеждане на птици. ЗЕМИЗДАТ. ISBN 954-05-0347-7.
- колектив (2000). Птицевъдство. ФОРУМ. ISBN 954-9794-22-9.
- Семерджиев, Валентин (2005). Атлас и характеристика на продуктивните птици. Съюз на учените-Стара Загора. ISBN 954-9329-25-9.