The Ermellinata di Rovigo is a modern Italian

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 dual-purpose chicken. It originates in the city of

Rovigo Rovigo (, ; ) is a city and communes of Italy, commune in the region of Veneto, Northeast Italy, the capital of the province of Rovigo, eponymous province. Geography Rovigo stands on the low ground known as Polesine, by rail southwest of Veni ...

in the

Veneto Veneto, officially the Region of Veneto, is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northeast Italy, north-east of the country. It is the fourth most populous region in Italy, with a population of 4,851,851 as of 2025. Venice is t ...

region of north-eastern Italy, from which it takes its name. It was created between 1959 and 1965, principally from

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

and

Rhode Island Red The Rhode Island Red is an American breed of domestic chicken. It is the state bird of Rhode Island. It was developed there and in Massachusetts in the late nineteenth century, by cross-breeding birds of Oriental origin such as the Malay wit ...

parentage.

History

The Ermellinata di Rovigo was created between 1959 and 1965 at the Stazione Sperimentale di Pollicoltura, or experimental chicken breeding centre, of

, in the

. It was conceived as a dual-purpose breed, and based on

and

stock. It broadly resembles a Light Sussex, with the difference that it has yellow skin and legs, which are traditionally preferred by Italian consumers of chicken meat. A standard for the breed was published by the now-defunct Associazione Nazionale Allevatori Specie Avicole ('national association of poultry breeders') in the latter part of the twentieth century, and is published for historic interest on the website of the Federazione Italiana Associazioni Avicole, the federation of Italian poultry associations, the authority governing poultry breeding in Italy. In early 2012, the breed was not officially recognised by the FIAV. Together with the

Pépoi The Pépoi or Pepoi is a rustic Italian breed of small dual-purpose chicken from north-eastern Italy, particularly the Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia regions. It is not officially recognised as a breed in Italy, but is being considered for ...

, the

Robusta lionata The Robusta Lionata is a modern Italian breed of dual-purpose chicken originating in the city of Rovigo in the Veneto region of north-eastern Italy. It was created between 1959 and 1965, by cross-breeding Buff Orpingtons with the commercial s ...

, the

Robusta maculata The Robusta Maculata is a modern Italian dual-purpose breed of chicken. It originates in the city of Rovigo in the Veneto Veneto, officially the Region of Veneto, is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northeast Italy, ...

and the Padovana, the Ermellinata di Rovigo is one of the five chicken breeds included in the CO.VA. project of Veneto Agricultura, the regional administration for agriculture of the Veneto. The project includes among its aims the conservation of local avian species of limited distribution, and the conservation of

genetic resources Genetic resources are genetic material of actual or potential value, where genetic material means any material of plant, animal, microbial genetics, microbial or other origin containing functional units of heredity. Genetic resources is one of the ...

and

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

, and has published a detailed description of the breed. Breed numbers remain low. A study published in 2007 used a figure of approximately 500 for the total breeding stock, of which about 100 were cocks.

Characteristics

According to the old ANSAV standard, the Ermellinata di Rovigo is white with typical "ermine" markings – black neck hackles, wing-tips and tail; that is, it has the same Columbian colour pattern as the Light Sussex. The skin and legs are yellow, the ear-lobes are red. The comb is single and large, with 5–6 points. Weights are in the range for cocks, for hens. The eggs are pinkish brown and weigh .

Uses

The Ermellinata di Rovigo is a dual-purpose breed. Hens lay 170–190 eggs per year. In meat production, birds reach a weight of in 120 days.

Cross-breeding A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. A domestic animal of unknown ancestry, where the breed status of only one parent or grandparent is known, may also be called a crossbreed though ...

buff

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...

cocks with Ermellinata di Rovigo hens produces an

auto-sexing Auto-sexing breeds of poultry are those in which the sex of newly-hatched chicks can be determined from the colour and markings of the down (feather), down. Some breeds of chicken, of domestic goose, goose and of domestic pigeon have this char ...

hybrid, with ermine-silver males suitable as

spring chicken In Commonwealth countries, poussin (pronounced is less commonly called coquelet) is a butcher's term for a young chicken, less than 28 days old at slaughter and usually weighing but not above . It is sometimes also called spring chicken, alth ...

, and buff hens of light to medium weight that are good layers of ivory-pink eggs. Another auto-sexing hybrid is obtained by cross-breeding with

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

cocks, which produces fast-growing ermine-coloured cockerels, and medium-weight red layers of salmon-brown eggs.

References

Chicken breeds Chicken breeds originating in Italy {{bots, deny=Citation bot