Day 395#: German Deathlayer
Today's animal of the day is the German deathlayer breed of domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus)!
Photo credit: Green Fire Farms
Also known in Germany as the Westfälischer Totleger, this beautiful breed of chicken originates from the Westphalia region of northwestern Germany and is estimated to be around 400 years old. While their name makes them sound like some sort of demon chicken, it's actually the result of some mixing of the two main dialects of the German language. Originally, these chickens were known as either 'Altagslegers' or 'Dauerlegers', which both translate to "daily layer of eggs", since this breed is known for being great layers. However, eventually some influence from the Low German dialect would cause the name to change to 'Daudtleijer' and then eventually 'Totleger', which means "death layer". There's another theory going around that claims that their name comes from the fact that the hens lay eggs until the day they die, but this is just a common misconception.
Photo credit: Green Fire Farms
Despite being great layers, German deathlayers aren't a commonly kept breed of chicken. While beautiful, they're very skittish birds and will freak out anytime you approach them. Because of this, you either need to free-range them or keep them in a coop with a large run, or else they could become super stressed out and accidentally hurt themselves trying to escape. They're also terrible mothers, so while you'll have no problem breeding them, to hatch the eggs you'll need to get an incubator or convince a broody hen of a more maternal breed to adopt them.
Photo credit: chickenfans.com
Like many other chicken breeds, the German deathlayer comes in a few different color variants. The two standard colors are golden-penciled and silver-penciled; however, some breeders have begun crossing these two color morphs to create what's called lemon deathlayers. Though these "hybrids" aren't considered official. In my opinion, it's good that people have started breeding these two different color morphs since this breed is considered critically endangered, and restricting breeding to keep specific color lines "purebred" puts the breed at risk of becoming inbred.
Photo credit: Maine Homestead Magazine
The last census I could find of this breed was in 2016, and it recorded only around 176 roosters and 798 hens, all of which were kept by just 12 different farms in Germany. Luckily, the breed has since been imported into the U.S., where it is considered more of a fancy/novelty breed instead of a utility or pet breed. Livestock conservation groups are working hard to help preserve this breed and prevent inbreeding, but due to the numerous drawbacks of the breed, it's unlikely that they'll ever become a popular breed kept by farmers or even backyard chicken keepers. Personally, I wouldn't mind keeping a small flock one day just for conservation purposes, but I'm a crazy chicken person, and I understand why other people aren't too keen on keeping them.
