Mugellese

Synonyms or local names: Mugellina

Geographic origin: Mugello, mountain area in the province of Florence

Geographic distribution: Tuscany, northern Lazio

Estimated total population size: 277 (Castillo et al., 2021)

Extinction risk status (FAO, 1998): Threatened conserved

Any other specific information: Mesomorphic, dwarf-sized breed

Historical origin of the breed

The first references to dwarf-sized chickens date back to the Latin writer Columella who reports that they were known by the Romans even before Julius Caesar, however, they were little appreciated because they produced less meat due to their size. Subsequently, in texts from the 15th and 16th centuries, belonging to the Medici family, reference is made to a “little Javan hen” imported precisely from the island of Java for its beauty. The roosters were exposed to decorate the aviaries of parks and lemon groves while the females were used for brooding the eggs of other poultry such as pheasants and peacocks thanks to their outstanding maternal qualities. Given the characteristics described in the Medici annals and considering that the Medici family was originally from Mugello, one can easily think that these subjects gave rise to the Mugellese breed. Then, testimonies dating back to 1872 mentioned that the prince of Demidoff, Paul II, by purchasing the Medici-Lorraine villa of Pratolino in Mugello, had come into possession with the large aviaries also of the subjects bred there, including the famous “small Javan hens”. From this nucleus, the small hens then spread throughout the Mugello area, populating the sharecropping peasant farmyards and contributing to their economy as natural “incubators” for the eggs of various poultry. As reported by the oral traditions of the Mugello inhabitants, the “little Javan hen”, which has now become an actual Mugello breed (Mugellese means “from Mugello”), was part of all peasant farmyards, appreciated for its aptitude for brooding and taking care of the chicks and good production of eggs (even if small). However, in more modern times, as it is no longer considered a livestock breed, also supplanted by mechanical incubators for domestic use, it has seriously risked extinction.

Qualitative morphological traits

Feather morphology: Normal

Feather distribution: Normal

Plumage structure: Abundant and close fitting to the body, quite soft

Plumage colours: Most common colours: Golden wild type (Selvatico oro), Wheaten gold (Dorata frumento)

Colour features: Bicolour, with sexual dimorphism, with eye-catching colours in males and mimetic females (especially in the Golden wild type, which reminds of the plumage of the wild Gallus gallus bankiva to a greater extent). No eclipse plumage is evident.

Colour pattern:
Golden wild type (Selvatico oro): Male: intense golden yellow head, golden yellow cape slightly lighter in the terminal part, with black flames with green sheen; back, shoulders and wing coverts bright dark red; golden yellow lanceolate feathers on the rump with black flames and green sheen; large wing coverts black, with metallic blue-green sheen; primary flight feathers black with narrow brown outer border; secondary flight feathers with black inner web and tip, brown outer web forming the wing bay; chest black with green sheen without traces of brown; black belly and legs; black tail with strong green sheen; grayish down. Female: golden yellow head; golden yellow cape with black flames with green sheen; remainder of plumage brown with fine black peppering regularly distributed, shaft slightly paler permitted; primary flight feathers black with narrow peppery brown outer edge, secondary feathers black inner web and peppery brown outer web, the two large upper coverts marked like the rest of the plumage; salmon chest, grey/brown belly and legs; black tail with green sheen and large sickles, sometimes with brown edging.

Golden wild-type female and male (UniFI)

Wheaten gold male (UniFI)

Wheaten gold female (UniFI)

Wheaten gold (Dorata frumento): Male: golden orange head; golden orange cape which becomes lighter in the terminal part (absent flames), back and shoulders and coverts of the wings bright brown; lanceolate feathers golden orange in the rump, absence of flames, large black coverts with green sheen, primary flight feathers, chest, belly and legs black; secondary flight feathers with black inner web and brown outer web to form a brown wing bay; black tail with green sheen and large sickles, with brown edging permitted. Gray down. Female: light golden head, golden brown cape, small opaque black flames permitted; plumage generally wheaten including primaries, secondaries with black inner web and outer wheaten web; light wheaten chest, belly and legs, tail with dull black rectrices and buff sheen, wheaten tail coverts.

Chick plumage colour:
Golden wild type: ancestral type with brown mimetic streaks going from head to tail similar to those present in chicks of the wild type Gallus gallus bankiva

Wheaten gold: uniform and very light straw yellow, tending towards white. In males, over time and with the appearance of the adult plumage, the color becomes quite similar to the wild type plumage.

Comb type: Simple comb, upright, firmly set, not too fine in texture, following the line of the neck without touching it. In the female, not too deep serrations, sometimes falling to one side of the head.

Comb spikes: Four to six spikes

Ear-lobe colour: Red, sometimes with a slight presence of white; fine texture, without folds

Beak colour: Horn

Iris colour: Orange to red

Skin colour: Flesh-coloured

Shank colour: Flesh-coloured

Shank feathering: Free from feathers

Other specific and distinct visible traits: Dwarf-sized chicken with homeosome traits, well set and solid, so much that it appears slightly squat. Proud attitude.