The Malay Game 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 ...

game A game is a structured type of play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or video games) or art ...

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 ...

. It is among the tallest breeds of chicken, and may stand over (36 inches) high. The Malay is bred principally in Europe, and in Australia and the United States. It was derived, partly in

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

and

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

in south-west England, from birds imported from the Indian subcontinent or

South-east Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Australian mainland, which is part of Oceania. Southeast Asia i ...

in the first decades of the nineteenth century, when large birds of this type were widespread in northern India, in Indonesia and in the

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula is located in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...

. The Malay was the first chicken breed to be bantamised; a dwarf version of the standard-sized breed was created at the turn of the twentieth century.

History

From about 1830 very large game chickens were imported to England, where they became fashionable and were selectively bred by English breeders. Some imports are documented from the Malay Peninsula, others from the Deccan of India. Those from India were sometimes called Grey Chittagongs, but were considered to be closely similar to the Malay. They were particularly numerous in Devon and Cornwall, especially in the area round Falmouth, which was a common first port of call for returning

East Indiamen East Indiamen were merchant ships that operated under charter or licence for European Trading company, trading companies which traded with the East Indies between the 17th and 19th centuries. The term was commonly used to refer to vessels belon ...

. They were also numerous in Ireland, in the area of

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. An early description is that of James Joseph Nolan, published in Dublin in 1850. Malays were shown at the first British poultry exhibition in 1845, and were included in the ''Standard of Excellence'', the first edition of the British Poultry Standards, in 1865. Malay birds were present in Germany and the Netherlands by about 1834, and by 1846 were introduced to the United States also. The black-breasted red Malay was included in the '' Standard of Perfection'' of the American Poultry Association from 1883, and the bantam in 1904; five other colours, both standard- and bantam-sized, were added in 1981. Numbers of the breed in the USA are very low; in 2014 its

conservation status The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservation ...

there was listed as "critical" by the

FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition ...

. The Malay was the first chicken breed to be bantamised; a dwarf version of the standard-sized breed was created at the turn of the twentieth century.

Characteristics

The Malay is among the tallest breeds of chicken, and may stand over high. The Poultry Club of Great Britain lists five colour varieties – black, black-red, pile, spangled and white – but does not exclude other colours. The same colours are recognised by the American Poultry Association, with the addition of the wheaten. The Entente Européenne lists sixteen colour variants, of which eight are recognised.

Use

The Malay is kept mostly for showing. Hens may lay approximately 80 eggs per year; the eggs are brownish or golden, and weigh some . The Malay was among the breeds used in the development of the Índio Gigante of Brazil.

References

Chicken breeds Chicken breeds originating in Malaysia Animal breeds on the RBST Watchlist {{bots, deny=Citation bot