The Russian Orloff.  Not many breeds can boast such a long (and confusing!) history and still not be a recognized breed by the American Poultry Association.

 

The breed is said to have been created in the late 18th century by Count Alexei Orlov-Chemenski.  By crossing Gilan chickens from Persia and Iran with local cold-hardy breeds in Russia, Count Orlov made a breed that he named after himself, the Russian Orloff.  

 

Not seen in exhibition until 1881 in Moscow, Honorary member of the Russian Poultry Breeders Society S.N. Khudepov wrote in 1901, “The Orloff has only been bred here, in Russia for a long time. We, Russians, are familiarizing Europe and America with the beautiful breed for the first time”. And famous breeder I.I. Abozin in his book “Poultry Yard” wrote, “A height of good specimens is quite big. At the exhibition in 1881, the weighting showed that some cocks weighted eleven pounds and hens – 7-8 pounds”. By our standards, it is 4.4 kg and 2.8-3.2 kg respectively.  While by the 20'th century the Russian Orloff had almost disappeared from farmyards in their motherland, they had reached the hands of enthusiasts in Western Europe and became quite popular in Austria, Germany and England.  By 1915 the number of breeders in England became so large that a club was developed and the productivity of the Orloff eggs were increased to 200 a year.  (Average remains 160-180) 

 

While it was thought that the Russian Orloff was once accepted by the APA and simply fell out of favor, it has been found to be something quite different.  In November of 1872, Volume I, No. 11 of Poultry World, the month's featured breed was the Black Russian Fowl.  The name later was changed to just Russians, to further add to the confusion.  At the time of being dropped from the APA, by both written and illustrated description, it is obvious that the Russian was a different breed entirely from the true Russian Orloff.

 

This would mean that the Russian Orloff of today has never been an accepted breed with the American Poultry Association, and is a separate breed altogether than the Orloff Bantam.  The Orloff Bantam is currently accepted (but inactive) with the American Bantam Association.  

 

With such a long history and diligant work of breeders across the globe to preserve these birds, the Russian Orloff has not faded away to be a breed only for the history books.  This regal breed is on the cusp of something wonderful, the return of the Russian Orloff.