Brabanter

The Brabanter has been bred in the Netherlands, and particularly in Brabant, for a long time. The oldest known image of one is in a painting of 1676 by the Dutch artist Melchior d'Hondecoeter. They soon spread from their area of origin. Black and Cuckoo Brabanters were shown at the first German poultry exhibition, at Görlitz in Saxony, in 1854  The Brabanter became nearly extinct in the early 20th century, but was recovered by cross-breeding with other crested and bearded birds. Such as the Polish, Spitzhauben, Houdan, and Dutch Owl Beards. This breed has now made its way to America sometime after the year 2000 where a handful of breeders are working on getting the characteristics alike to create an American Standard of Perfection.

A few breeders are also currently working on creating new color varieties. The strongest being Gold, Cream, and Silver spangled varieties. There are a few that have started showing them in Poultry shows across the U.S.. [Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee,] just to name a few states where they have been shown in shows in 2015 and 2016.

The characteristics Brabanter is among the lightest of chicken breeds; cocks weigh 1.9–2.5 kg and hens 1.6–2.0 kg. It has a narrow crest and a three-part beard. The crest is unlike that of most other crested breeds such as the Polish: it projects upwards and slightly forwards like that of the very similar Swiss Appenzeller Spitzhauben. The Brabanter has a V-shaped comb. The earlobes are small and white, and the wattles are often absent; both earlobes and wattles are hidden by the beard.