The Bassette Liégeoise () or Bassette is a

breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...

of large bantam

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

from Belgium. It is larger than most bantams, but much smaller than full-sized breeds; cocks weigh about and hens about Like most Belgian bantam breeds, it is in danger of extinction. Eighteen colour patterns are officially recognised; many of them are rare.

History

Like the Belgian Bantam, the Bassette Liégeoise derives from the widespread European population of small partridge-coloured bantams which in Flemish were known as ''Engelse kiekskes'', "English bantams". In the nineteenth century there was in the area of

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

, in

Wallonia Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...

, a variable type of small chicken known by regional name ''bassette'', "little chicken", which was thought to derive from inter-breeding of these bantams with local chicken breeds. It was valued for hatching partridge and pheasant eggs. From about 1917 William Collier of Brussels started to selectively breed these for consistent characteristics and for egg-laying capacity. A

breed standard In animal husbandry or animal fancy, a breed standard is a description of the characteristics of a hypothetical or ideal example of a breed. The description may include phenotype, physical or morphology (biology), morphological detail, genotype, g ...

was drawn up in 1930 and was approved in 1932. The Bassette Liégeoise is distributed both in

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

and in Wallonia; some are found in France, in Germany and in the Netherlands. Like most Belgian bantam breeds, it is rare and at risk of extinction.

Characteristics

The Bassette Liégeoise is larger than most bantams, but much smaller than full-sized breeds; cocks weigh about and hens about It is nevertheless considered a bantam breed. The

comb A comb is a tool consisting of a shaft that holds a row of teeth for pulling through the hair to clean, untangle, or style it. Combs have been used since prehistoric times, having been discovered in very refined forms from settlements dating ba ...

is single, the earlobes are white, and the beak and legs are slate-blue. Eighteen colour patterns are officially recognised in Belgium. Quail and silver quail are most often seen; partridge is less common, and the other colours are rare or perhaps extinct.

Use

Bassette Liégeoise hens are good layers, and lay 125–180 eggs per year; the eggs weigh about . The hens are good sitters and good mothers.

References

{{Chicken breeds of Belgium Bantam chicken breeds Chicken breeds Chicken breeds originating in Belgium