The Potchefstroom Koekoek is a South African breed of chicken
developed in the 1960s at the Potchefstroom Agricultural College in the city of
Potchefstroom
Potchefstroom ( ; ), colloquially known as Potch, is an college town, academic city in the North West (South African province), North West Province of South Africa. It hosts the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. Potchefstro ...
by Chris Marais. It was developed by cross breeding a number of other breeds like Black
Australorp,
,
[ and Barred Plymouth Rock to obtain specific characteristics of each, making the resulting breed more suitable to Southern African conditions.
The breed was intended as a dual purpose, free ranging chicken with laying capabilities as well as a large structure for meat production. Pure Koekoeks have a black-and-white barred appearance, with the chicks sexable soon after hatching due to distinct sex markings. Potchefstroom Koekoeks maintain good egg production even with poor quality or insufficient feeding.]
See also
* List of chicken breeds
There are hundreds of chicken breeds in existence. Domesticated for thousands of years, distinguishable breeds of chicken have been present since the combined factors of geographical isolation and Selective breeding, selection for desired charact ...
* Agriculture in South Africa
Agriculture in South Africa contributes around 5% of informal sector, formal employment, relatively low compared to other parts of Africa and the number is still decreasing, as well as providing work for casual laborers and contributing around ...
References
Chicken breeds originating in South Africa
Chicken breeds
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