The Paduan Great Tuft Hen is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful breeds of ornamental chickens, and perhaps the one that most strikes the attention of those approaching this world. Few know, however, that its history is ancient and linked to kingdoms and sovereigns of other times, and that it is still not fully clarified. But let’s get to know her better.

What it looks like

The Paduan Gran Ciuffo hen is a medium-light chicken, reaching 2-2.3 kg in roosters and 1.7-2 kg in hens. The skin is white, the tarsi slate-colored. The back is slightly inclined towards the tail, which is carried half-open in hens, at an angle of about 30-35° with respect to the body, while in males it is inclined at 40-45°C and has well-developed lanceolates. The neck, arched, has a rich coat.

The Gran Ciuffo Paduan hen now has 9 different liveries included in the FIAV standard: silver black edge, gold black edge, gold white edge, white, black, blue edged, pearl gray, sparrowhawk, tricolor. In addition to these liveries, it often happens to see splash subjects (white with a few black or blue feathers), and many other liveries are being selected by the hands of skilled breeders.

The feature that most catches the eye in these animals, however, is the head: on the head the Paduan hen sports a large and globular tuft of feathers, which in some specimens comes to abundantly cover the eyes. The crest is consequently very small, formed by two horns, even if the selection of recent years has favored the subjects in which these are even absent and indeed their presence is considered a defect. Earlobes are small, white, and totally hidden by beards and favorites, surrounding the face of these animals. The eyes, brown or orange-red, are sometimes completely covered by the tuft. The latter is formed by pointed feathers in males and with a rounded margin in females, and has a globular shape in the male and spheroidal in the female. Since an overdeveloped tuft could, as mentioned, prevent animals from seeing well, with repercussions also on their behavior, those selections that give animals with tufts that allow chickens to see well have been increasingly encouraged. For this purpose, a certain grooming is also tolerated at poultry shows to clear the animal’s field of vision.

The tuft of the Paduan hen is linked to an anatomical peculiarity of these animals: cerebral hernia, i.e. an abnormal globular expansion of the skull that in fact causes a different housing of the brain. There seems to be a correlation between the size of the tuft (characteristic due to the Crest gene) and the size of the cerebral hernia: subjects with a larger tuft normally have a more developed cerebral hernia. It also seems that females have a hernia that is generally larger than that of males. The modification of the nasal bones (which do not join the premaxillary) resulting from the presence of the homozygous gene of the horned crest and the one related to the tuft means that in the Paduan area the nostrils are raised with respect to the beak (cavernous nostrils).

The Paduan Great Tuft Hen is today more than ever a purely ornamental animal, selected for aesthetic rather than productive characteristics, at least in most cases. Its beauty makes it a highly appreciated animal and decidedly attractive even for non-experts. The strong selective push towards show subjects has sometimes led to neglect attention to the main production parameters, such as weight and fetation. The Paduan Great Tuft Hen lays white-shelled eggs, but it happens to find even young hens that lay only a few dozen eggs a year. Some local realities, however, have moved in a totally opposite way: the Paduan association Pro Avibus Nostris , for example, has tried to obtain groups of Paduan Great Tufts with greater weight and good laying skills, sometimes giving less weight to perfection in the design of the plumage.

There is still a lot of mystery around the origins of the Paduan Hen Great Tuft. For a long time it was believed that it was Giovanni Dondi dell’Orologio, a Paduan physicist, astronomer and engineer, who brought some of the subjects back to Padua from Poland in the fourteenth century. But the research of Dr. Franco Holzer, a journalist, has shown that there is no evidence of any link between Giovanni Dondi dell’orologio and the Polish court from which those animals are said to have derived. In truth, the first Dondi dell’Orologio with a clear link with that country seems to have been Francesco Dondi dell’Orologio, who in the seventeenth century received the marquisate for having offered his services to the Polish crown.

In Europe, chickens with characteristics reminiscent of those of the Paduan Great Tuft had already been known for some time, as seen in some Flemish paintings; in Anglo-Saxon countries they were called Polish, in France Poule Huppée or Padoue, in the Netherlands Nederlands baardkuifhoen (Dutch Bearded and Tufted, to distinguish them from the Dutch Tufts). In short, a real puzzle that is very difficult to put together that of the origin of the Paduan Tuft!

To complicate things, it must be added that the term Paduan hen for centuries in the territories of the Serenissima Republic of Venice had referred to another breed, the Polverara hen, known throughout the Italian peninsula as a very productive breed. We have to wait until the eighteenth century to have the first Italian illustration of a chicken attributable to the Paduan Hen Gran Ciuffo, an engraving present in the work of Saverio Manetti his “Natural History of Birds”.

The Paduan Great Tuft Hen is a beautiful animal to breed but requires some extra attention compared to other breeds of chickens. The beautiful and elegant tuft, in fact, prevents her from having a clear view of the world around her and this affects her character. On the one hand, in fact, these animals tend to move and move less than other breeds; on the other hand, precisely because they struggle to see, they can react more disorderly if you approach them silently. They can also be more easily victims of predator attacks. So always approach your animals slowly, in sight and never with sudden movements; Make sure that the fences are always predator-proof and do not let dogs or cats near them if they are not used to it.

The abundant tuft, moistened with dew or rain, can promote the onset of some diseases, such as colds; moreover, if too heavy it can fold over the eyes, giving problems to the eyelids or severely limiting vision. So make sure you
guarantee them well-made night shelters, with clean bedding, and favorite drinking troughs that do not allow the animals to wet the tuft too much. If you see that they are impaired with your chickens’ eyesight, shorten the feathers of the tuft by a few centimetres: your animals will gain in safety and health.

And don’t forget that Novital offers you everything you need to give birth, grow and care for your Paduan Hens! Our wide range of products, from Incubators to feeders, from drinking troughs to grain mills will allow you to take better care of your animals.