Castellana Negra

{{short description|Spanish breed of domestic chicken}} {{use dmy dates|date=September 2014}} {{use list-defined references|date=September 2014}} {{use British English|date=September 2014}} {{infobox poultry breed | name = Castellana Negra | image = Gallina_castellana_negra.jpg | image_size = | alt = | image_caption = A hen | status = {{ubl|[[FAO]] (2007): not at risk{{r|barb|p=109}}|[[DAD-IS]] (2025): at risk/vulnerable{{r|dad}}}} | altname = Gallina Castellana Negra | country = Spain | distribution = | standard = [http://www.magrama.gob.es/es/ganaderia/temas/zootecnia/rEGL_llgg_cASTELLLANA_NEGRA_tcm7-294290.pdf MAGRAMA] (in Spanish) | use = | apa = not listed{{r|apa}} | aba = | ee = recognised{{r|ee}} | pcgb = not listed{{r|pcgb}} | maleweight = 2.8–3 kg{{r|guia|page=625}} | femaleweight = 2.3 kg{{r|guia|page=625}} | skincolour = white | eggcolour = white | comb = single | note = | type = [[Chicken]] | latin = Gallus gallus domesticus }}

The {{lang|es|i=no|'''Castellana Negra'''}} or {{lang|es|i=no|'''Gallina Castellana Negra'''}} is a Spanish [[list of chicken breeds|breed]] of domestic [[chicken]]. It is a good egg-laying breed, rustic and disease-resistant. It was formerly widely kept and commercially exploited in Spain. Since the advent of imported commercial hybrid layer chickens and the spread of [[intensive farming|intensive chicken farming]] methods, it has almost disappeared.{{r|guia|page=624}}

== History ==

The Castellana Negra is thought to have been introduced to [[Al-Andalus]] by the [[Moors|Moorish]] invaders, and for this reason was sometimes known as ''moruna'', 'Moorish'. It was widespread in southern and central Spain, but was not known in the northern part of the [[Iberian Peninsula]] until the late nineteenth century. Black chickens were known in various parts of the country under regional names such as the Zamorana in the [[Provinces of Spain|province]] of [[Province of Zamora|Zamora]], the Leonesa in the [[province of León]] (both in the [[Autonomous communities of Spain|autonomous community]] of [[Castilla y León]]), the Andaluza Negra in [[Andalucia]] or the Jerezana in the area of [[Jerez de la Frontera]]. How the black chickens of Castilla y León were selected and unified to become a breed is not documented. From the late nineteenth century it was so considered, and a breed standard was drawn up in 1926 by D. Enrique P. de Villamil;{{r|rescate|page=36}} this was approved in 1930.{{r|guia|page=625}} Following the introduction of [[battery farming]] and imported commercial egg-laying hybrids, the Castellana Negra came close to disappearing. It was included in the [[conservation programme]] for indigenous chicken breeds of the {{lang|es|i=no|[[Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria]]}}, a public agrarian research institute, from 1975 to 2010.{{r|inia}}

Initial steps towards recovery of the breed were reported in 1981. Breeding was begun with two birds identified in [[Córdoba, Spain|Córdoba]] and a further ten from [[Mérida, Spain|Mérida]] in [[Extremadura]]. The total population in Spain at that time was believed to be {{val|50|–|200}} birds.{{r|orozco}} In 2009 there were some hundreds of Castellana Negra birds kept by the Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agraria, and about a thousand at the agricultural institute of the [[University of Valladolid]] at [[Soria]]. Isolated nuclei of the breed, not all [[pure-bred]], were also reported from Zamora, León and [[Salamanca]] in Castilla y León, from the area of [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]] in [[Castilla-La Mancha]], and from Andalucia.{{r|guia|page=625}}

The Castellana Negra was not included in the official list of indigenous Spanish breeds in the [[royal decree]] of 26 December 2008, which established the national livestock breed conservation programme,{{r|decreto}} but was added to it by a ministerial order dated 4 March 2010.{{r|orden}} A new breed standard was approved on 24 March 2010 in a resolution which also authorised the [[breeders' association]], the {{lang|es|i=no|Asociación Nacional de Criadores de Gallinas Selectas de Pura Raza Castellana}}, to maintain the [[flock-book]] for the breed.{{r|resolucion}} The Castellana Negra is listed in the {{lang|es|i=no|Catálogo Oficial de Razas de Ganado de España}}, the official catalogue of livestock breeds of Spain, among the indigenous breeds at risk of [[extinction]].{{r|orden}} In 2025 its [[conservation status]] was listed as "at risk/vulnerable", based on a total population of about {{val|2200}} birds reported for 2024.{{r|dad}}

== Characteristics ==

The Castellana Negra is of Mediterranean type, lightly built and of medium size. Cocks weigh {{val|2.8|–|3|u=kg}} and hens about {{val|2.3|u=kg}}.{{r|guia|page=625}} The plumage is entirely black, with metallic greenish lights. The [[comb (anatomy)|comb]] is single, with five or six well-defined points. The comb, face and [[wattle (anatomy)|wattles]] are red, the earlobes white. The beak is black or horn-coloured, and the legs and feet are the colour of dark slate.{{r|guia|orden}}

== Use ==

Castellana Negra hens start laying at 4–5 months; they lay 200–225 white eggs per year, with an average weight of about {{val|60|u=g}}.{{r|guia|page=626}}

== 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=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=dad>[https://dadis-breed-datasheet-ws.firebaseapp.com/?country=ESP&specie=Chicken&breed=Gallina%20Castellana%20Negra Breed data sheet: Gallina Castellana Negra / Spain (Chicken)]. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed August 2025.</ref>

<ref name=decreto>[http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2009/01/27/pdfs/BOE-A-2009-1312.pdf Real Decreto 2129/2008, de 26 de diciembre, por el que se establece el Programa nacional de conservación, mejora y fomento de las razas ganaderas] (in Spanish). ''Boletín Oficial del Estado'' '''23''' (27 January 2009): I: 9211.</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=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=inia>José Luis Campo Chavarri (2010). [http://www.inia.es/gcontrec/pub/CATALOGO_INIA_Gallinas_1290596384804.pdf ''Razas españolas de gallinas. El programa de conservación del INIA (1975–2010)''] (in Spanish). Madrid: Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria. {{doi|10.1017/S2078633612000215}}</ref>

<ref name=orden>[http://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/spa93163.pdf Orden ARM/574/2010, de 4 de marzo, por la que se modifica el anexo I del Real Decreto 2129/2008, de 26 de diciembre, por el que se establece el Programa nacional de conservación, mejora y fomento de las razas ganaderas] (in Spanish). ''Boletín Oficial del Estado'' '''62''' (12 March 2010): I: 24842.</ref>

<ref name=orozco>Fernando Orozco, José Luis Campo (January 1981). [http://ddd.uab.cat/pub/selavi/selavi_a1981m1v23n1/selavi_a1981m1v23n1p4.pdf Desarrollo del programa de conservación de razas españolas de gallinas] (in Spanish). ''Selecciones avícolas''. '''23''' (1): 3–7.</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=rescate>Julio C. Gázquez (2012). [http://ganeca.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/GanecaIntegral.pdf Al rescate de la gallina castellana negra] (in Spanish). ''Integral: Vive mejor en un mundo mejor''. '''387''': 36–39.</ref>

<ref name=resolucion>[http://www.magrama.gob.es/es/ganaderia/temas/zootecnia/rEGL_llgg_cASTELLLANA_NEGRA_tcm7-294290.pdf Resolución de 24 mar 2010, de la Dirección Géneral del Medio Ambiente, por la que se reconoce oficialmente a la Asociación Nacional de Criadores de Gallinas Selectas de Pura Raza Castellana para la llevanza del Libro Genealógico de la raza Castellana Negra y se aprueba la Reglamentación Especifica] (in Spanish). Comunidad de Madrid: Dirección Géneral del Medio Ambiente. Accessed September 2014.</ref>

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[[Category:Chicken breeds]] [[Category:Chicken breeds originating in Spain]]