The Tiense Vechter, , is a criticallyendangered Belgian breed of

gamecock Cockfighting is a blood sport involving domesticated roosters as the combatants. The first documented use of the word gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or entertainment, was recorded in 1634, after the term " ...

. It dates from the late nineteenth century, and was

bred 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 ...

specifically for

cock-fighting Cockfighting is a blood sport involving domesticated roosters as the combatants. The first documented use of the word gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or entertainment, was recorded in 1634, after the term ...

. It named for its area of origin, that around the city of

Tienen Tienen (; ) is a city and municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, Belgium. The municipality comprises Tienen itself and the towns of Bost, Goetsenhoven, Hakendover, Kumtich, Oorbeek, Oplinter, Sint-Margriete-Houtem and Viss ...

Flemish Brabant Flemish Brabant ( ; ) is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hainaut and East Flanders. Flemish Brabant also ...

, in eastern central Belgium. It is one of three Belgian breeds of fighting-cock, the others being the Brugse Vechter and the Luikse Vechter.

History

The Tiense Vechter derives from the oldest of the three Belgian fighting-cock breeds, the Brugse Vechter, which originated in western

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 ...

in the early years of the nineteenth century and was formerly common throughout Belgium. In the later part of that century, 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 ...

in eastern central Belgium, efforts were made to improve the fighting capabilities of the Brugse Vechter by

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 ...

with fighting birds of Oriental origin, which gave rise to the Luikse Vechter. The Tiense Vechter was created in much the same way, in the

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

of Brabant,

and

Limburg Limburg or Limbourg may refer to: Regions * Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium * Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands * Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...

, and mainly in the area of

. It was reared particularly in the villages of ,

Glabbeek Glabbeek () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the populated places of Attenrode, Bunsbeek, Glabbeek proper, Kapellen, and Zuurbemde. On January 1, 2006, Glabbeek had a total popul ...

, ,

Oplinter Tienen (; ) is a city and municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, Belgium. The municipality comprises Tienen itself and the towns of Bost, Goetsenhoven, Hakendover, Kumtich, Oorbeek, Oplinter, Sint-Margriete-Houtem and Visse ...

and

Vissenaken Vissenaken is a village in Belgium. It is part (''deelgemeente'') of the municipality Tienen. It is located north of the city of Tienen and is divided into two parishes: Sint-Maartens and Sint-Pieters. The saint Himelin is known only in Vissena ...

. The Tiense Vechter is critically endangered. It is the most threatened of the three Belgian gamecock breeds. In 2010 there were 33 birds, all in Flanders. A bantam Tiense Vechter was bred in the second part of the twentieth century. The plumage colours are superior to those of the full-sized breed. Like the full-sized bird, it is critically endangered.

Characteristics

The Tiense Vechter is a large and powerful bird. Like the Luikse Vechter and unlike the Brugse Vechter, it has a steeply inclined back-line. Unlike both the other fighting breeds, it has no dark pigmentation of the face, skin and legs, which are all pale. 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 triple, and the

wattle Wattle or wattles may refer to: Plants *''Acacia sensu lato'', polyphyletic genus of plants commonly known as wattle, especially in Australian English **''Acacia'' ***Black wattle, common name for several species of acacia ***Golden wattle, ''A ...

s are rudimentary or completely absent. In addition to the seventeen plumage colours recognised for the Brugse Vechter, there are four others, including cuckoo, which is the pattern most commonly seen.

Use

The Tiense Vechter was bred for its fighting ability. Cock-fighting is against the law in Belgium, and practitioners of the sport usually travel to northern France. Some strains are reared only for exhibition at

poultry show A poultry show is a specific subset of a livestock show that involves the exhibition and competition of exhibition poultry, which may include chickens, domestic ducks, domestic geese, domestic guineafowl and domestic turkey. Domestic pigeon a ...

History

Characteristics

Use

References

Further reading