Blue Andalusian

{{short description|Spanish breed of chicken}} {{use dmy dates|date=July 2025}} {{use list-defined references|date=July 2025}} {{use British English|date=July 2025}} {{infobox poultry breed | name = Andalusian | image = Andalusian gallus (hen).jpg | image_size = | alt = | image_caption = A hen | image2 = Andalusian Blue chicken (male).jpg | image_size2 = | image_alt2 = | image_caption2= A cock | status = {{ubl|[[FAO]] (2007): endangered{{r|barb|p=151}}|[[DAD-IS]] (2025): at risk/endangered{{r|dad}}|{{nobreak|[[Gesellschaft zur Erhaltung alter und gefährdeter Haustierrassen|GEH]] (2025): category 1, {{lang|de|extrem gefährdet}}{{r|geh}}}}|[[Rare Breeds Survival Trust|RBST]] (2025): priority{{r|rbst}}}} | altname = {{ubl|Andalusian|Andalusian Blue|{{lang|es|i=no|Andaluza Azul}}}} | country = Spain | distribution = {{ubl|Australia|Germany|Ireland|New Zealand|Spain|United Kingdom|United States{{r|dad2|geh}}}} | standard = [https://web.archive.org/web/20250716100103/https://www.mapa.gob.es/dam/mapa/contenido/ganaderia/temas/zootecnia/arca/razas/catalogo/raza-autoctona-en-peligro-de-extincion/aviar/andaluza-azul/documentacion/pc_final_andazulanexoresol260320.pdf Asociación Española de Criadores de Gallinas de Raza Andaluza Azul] (page 6, in Spanish) | use = | apa = Mediterranean{{r|apa}} | aba = | ee = yes{{r|ee}} | pcgb = rare soft feather: light{{r|pcgb}} | maleweight = {{ubl|Standard: 3.2–3.6 kg|Bantam: 680–790 g{{r|roberts|p=36}}}} | femaleweight = {{ubl|Standard: 2.25–2.70 kg|Bantam: 570–680 g{{r|roberts|p=36}}}} | skincolour = | eggcolour = white{{r|guia|p=620}} | comb = single{{r|guia|p=620}} | note = }}

[[File:Andalusian rooster head big (portrait).jpg|thumbnail|Head of a cock]] The '''Blue Andalusian''', {{langx|es|i=no|'''Andaluza Azul'''}}, is a Spanish [[list of chicken breeds|breed]] of domestic [[chicken]] indigenous to the [[Autonomous communities of Spain|autonomous community]] of [[Andalusia]] in south-western Spain. It is distributed through much of the countryside of [[Córdoba, Andalusia|Córdoba]] and [[Seville]], and is concentrated particularly in the area of [[Utrera]], which is considered the heartland of the breed.{{r|guia|p=620}} In 2009 the total number of the birds in Spain was estimated at {{val|10,000}}.{{r|guia|p=621}}

A very different type of Andalusian, more intensely blue and with blue-laced plumage, was created in England from birds imported from Andalusia through [[selective breeding]] and [[hybrid (biology)|cross-breeding]] with birds of other breeds.{{r|guia|p=620}}

== History ==

There is little information on the early history of the Andalusian.{{r|pinan}} Blue chickens from Andalusia were imported to England no later than 1851. The creation of the "international" type of Andalusian, with blue-laced plumage, is attributed to the English, whether in Andalusia or in Britain.{{r|pinan}} Two breeders in particular are thought to have started this process, which took many years: one named Coles, from [[Fareham, Hampshire|Fareham]] in [[Hampshire]], and a certain John Taylor of [[Shepherd's Bush]] in west London.{{r|pcgb2}} Andalusians were shown at [[Baker Street]] in January 1853;{{r|tlc}} the breed was not included in the original [[British Poultry Standards|''Standard of Excellence'']] of [[William Bernhard Tegetmeier]] in 1865.{{r|teget}}

The birds reached the United States in the 1850s, and were included in the first edition of the ''[[Standard of Perfection]]'' of the [[American Poultry Association]] in 1874.{{r|tlc}} The breed arrived in South America in 1870,{{r|pinan}} and reached Germany in 1872.{{r|geh}} A [[bantam (poultry)|bantam]] was created in the 1880s by [[Augusta Legge]], countess of Dartmouth.{{r|roberts|p=34|dnb}}

The Andaluza Azul was officially recognised by the [[Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación]], the Spanish ministry of agriculture, in 2007.{{r|ass|p=4|boe}} A [[breed association]] – the {{lang|es|i=no|Asociación Española de Criadores de Gallinas de Raza Andaluza Azul}} – was recognised by the [[Junta de Andalucía]] in 2015 as the official representative of the breed, and a [[breed standard]] and breeding programme were approved in the following year.{{r|ass|p=4}}

The [[conservation status]] of the Andalusian was listed by the [[Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations]] in 2007 as "at risk".{{r|barb|p=151}} In 2009 the total number of the birds in Spain was estimated at {{val|10,000}}.{{r|guia|p=621}} In 2025 the world-wide population was estimated to consist of {{val|623}} birds in six countries, of which only three reported population data; its conservation status in those countries was "at risk",{{r|dad2}} while in Germany it was in category 1, {{lang|de|extrem gefährdet}} ('extremely endangered'), on the [[Rote Liste]] of the [[Gesellschaft zur Erhaltung alter und gefährdeter Haustierrassen]]{{r|geh}} and in the United Kingdom was listed by the [[Rare Breeds Survival Trust]] as "priority".{{r|rbst}}

== Characteristics ==

The slate-blue plumage of the Andalusian is caused by a [[dilution gene]], which, in combination with the E gene for black plumage, produces partial dilution of the [[melanin]] which gives the black colour. Not all Andalusians are blue: birds with two copies of the gene have near-total dilution, and are off-white; birds with no copies have no dilution, and are black; those with one copy have partial dilution, and are blue. Blue birds occur, in [[Mendelian ratio|Mendelian proportion]], twice as often as each of the other colours. All are present in the population.{{r|pinan}}

The earlobes of the Andalusian are smooth, white, and almond-shaped; the crest is single and of medium size, with five well-defined points. The skin is white and the legs and feet are black.{{r|guia|p=621|pinan}}

== Use ==

Andaluza Azul hens lay about 165 white eggs per year; eggs weigh {{val|70|–|80|u=g}}. Blue-bred white hens lay the largest eggs.{{r|guia|p=620}}

== References == {{commonscat}} {{reflist|45em|refs=

<ref name=apa>[https://web.archive.org/web/20171104135004/http://www.amerpoultryassn.com/PDF%20Forms/APA%20Recognized%20Breeds%20and%20Varieties%20Sept2012.pdf APA Recognized Breeds and Varieties: As of January 1, 2012]. American Poultry Association. Archived 4 November 2017.</ref>

<ref name=ass>[https://web.archive.org/web/20250716100103/https://www.mapa.gob.es/dam/mapa/contenido/ganaderia/temas/zootecnia/arca/razas/catalogo/raza-autoctona-en-peligro-de-extincion/aviar/andaluza-azul/documentacion/pc_final_andazulanexoresol260320.pdf Programa de Cría de la Raza Aviar Andaluza Azul] (in Spanish). Asociación Española de Criadores de Gallinas de Raza Andaluza Azul. Archived 16 July 2025.</ref>

<ref name=barb>Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). [https://web.archive.org/web/20200623201209/http://www.fao.org/3/a1250e/annexes/List%20of%20breeds%20documented%20in%20the%20Global%20Databank%20for%20Animal%20Genetic%20Resources/List_breeds.pdf List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources], annex to: [https://web.archive.org/web/20170110125634/http://www.fao.org/3/a-a1250e.pdf ''The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture'']. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. {{isbn|9789251057629}}. Archived 23 June 2020.</ref>

<ref name=boe>Elena Espinosa Mangana (17 January 2007). [https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2007/01/24/pdfs/A03297-03301.pdf 1471 ORDEN APA/53/2007, de 17 de enero, por la que se modifica el Catálogo Oficial de Razas de Ganado de España, contenido en el anexo del Real Decreto 1682/1997, de 7 de noviembre, por el que se actualiza el Catálogo Oficial de Razas de Ganado de España] (in Spanish). ''Boletín Oficial del Estado''. '''21''' (24 enero 2007): 3297.</ref>

<ref name=dad>[https://dadis-breed-datasheet-ws.firebaseapp.com/?country=ESP&specie=Chicken&breed=Andaluza%20Azul&external=1&lang=en Breed data sheet: Andaluza Azul / Spain (Chicken)]. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed July 2025.</ref>

<ref name=dad2>[https://dadis-transboundary-breed-ws.web.app/?species=Chicken&transboundary=Andalusian&external=1&lang=en Transboundary breed: Andalusian]. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed July 2025.</ref>

<ref name=dnb>K.D. Reynolds (2004). [https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-58519 Legge [née Finch], Augusta, countess of Dartmouth]. ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (online edition). Oxford University Press. {{doi|10.1093/ref:odnb/58519}}. {{Subscription required}}.</ref>

<ref name=ee>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130616062803/http://www.entente-ee.com/deutsch/sparten/gefluegel/dateien/2013/Verzeichnis%20R%20F%2028042013.xls Liste des races et variétés homologuée dans les pays EE (28.04.2013)]. Entente Européenne d'Aviculture et de Cuniculture. Archived 16 June 2013.</ref>

<ref name=geh>[https://web.archive.org/web/20250619215230/https://www.g-e-h.de/rassebeschreibungen/55-gefluegelhuhn/501-andalusier Andalusier] (in German). Gesellschaft zur Erhaltung alter und gefährdeter Haustierrassen. Archived 19 June 2025.</ref>

<ref name=guia>Miguel Fernández Rodríguez, Mariano Gómez Fernández, Juan Vicente Delgado Bermejo, Silvia Adán Belmonte, Miguel Jiménez Cabras (editors) (2009). ''Guía de campo de las razas autóctonas españolas'' (in Spanish). Madrid: Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Medio Rural y Marino. {{isbn|9788449109461}}.</ref>

<ref name=pinan>Fernando Orozco Piñán (1986). [http://ddd.uab.cat/pub/selavi/selavi_a1986m5v28n5/selavi_a1986m5v28n5p145.pdf La raza "Andaluza Azul"] (in Spanish). ''Selecciones avícolas'' '''28''' (5): 145-149.</ref>

<ref name=pcgb>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143235/http://www.poultryclub.org/img/Breed%20Classification.pdf Breed Classification]. Poultry Club of Great Britain. Archived 12 June 2018.</ref>

<ref name=pcgb2>[https://web.archive.org/web/20181109100645/https://www.poultryclub.org/breed-gallery/chickens/ Chickens]. Poultry Club of Great Britain. Archived 9 November 2018.</ref>

<ref name=rbst>[https://web.archive.org/web/20250716112853/https://www.rbst.org.uk/andalusian Andalusian]. Kenilworth, Warwickshire: Rare Breeds Survival Trust. Archived 16 July 2025.</ref>

<ref name=roberts>Victoria Roberts (2008). [https://books.google.it/books?id=nAfyUHY42u0C&hl=en ''British poultry standards: complete specifications and judging points of all standardized breeds and varieties of poultry as compiled by the specialist breed clubs and recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain'']. Oxford: Blackwell. {{isbn|9781405156424}}.</ref>

<ref name=teget>William Bernhard Tegetmeier (editor) (1865). [https://books.google.it/books?id=Qz1FAAAAYAAJ&hl=en ''The Standard of Excellence in Exhibition Poultry, authorized by the Poultry Club'']. London: Poultry Club. {{nobreak|p. 17–19}}</ref>

<ref name=tlc>[http://www.livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/andalusian Andalusian Chicken]. The Livestock Conservancy. Accessed August 2014.</ref>

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[[Category:Conservation Priority Breeds of the Livestock Conservancy]] [[Category:Chicken breeds originating in Spain]] [[Category:Animal breeds on the RBST Watchlist]] [[Category:Animal breeds on the GEH Red List]] [[Category:Chicken breeds]]