Crevecoeur Chicken – Why Is This Breed So Underrated?

The Crevecoeur, as you have probably noticed from the name, originates from France. However, it is now one of the rarest breeds in the world. Let’s take a little look at the Crevecoeur chicken and see what it is all about, shall we?

Crevecoeur Chicken Facts at a Glance

Eggs	150 – 200 per year
Egg Color	White
Use	Ornamental + Meat + Eggs
Comb Type	V comb
Weight	Male: 8 lb (3.6 kg) Female: 6.5 lb (3 kg)
	Active and Friendly
Country of origin	France

The Origins of the Crevecoeur Chickens

The more modern history of the chicken is a bit clearer. For example; we know that It had reached America prior to 1874. We also know that the breed was pretty much close to dying out in the 1970s, and it was brought back from the brink.

However, it probably wasn’t brought back from the brink in quite the way everybody expected it to be. The bird is still endangered, and we doubt that is going to be changing any time in the near future.

Anybody that owns this bird nowadays is really just delaying in the inevitable, which is a shame because we really do not want to see any chicken breeds disappear.

The Look of the Crevecoeurs

This bird doesn’t look like your average chicken. Their look is simply stunning, and it is this look that has kept them kicking around for so long.

The Crevecoeur Chicken is mostly found in black feathering, although there are a few other colors these are a lot rarer. It always boasts a crest and a beard. This will be paired with your standard V-comb. If you like, you can check more in depth in our article about all chicken comb types.

This is a heavier bird, but the look of it can be deceptive. Males weigh 8 lb and females weigh 6.5 lb.

The Crevecoeur Chicken has short legs in comparison to most other breeds which can, of course, make the chicken appear as if it is far, far smaller than it actually is.

Crevecoeur Chicken as a Show Chicken

Nowadays, the majority of the people that raise the Crevecoeur Chicken are simply doing so because they are looking for a fantastic show chickens. You will still find plenty of competitions that the chicken can enter. Although you should probably be bearing in mind that the vast majority of those competitions are limited to in France.

You will struggle to find anything outside of that unless you live in an area that is big on chicken breeding.

Of course, for most people, this will likely not be a problem. While the Crevecoeur Chicken is likely to be raised as a show bird, this does not mean that you need to be entering it into any sort of competition.

This is a bird that is going to look absolutely stunning wandering around your yard. In fact, a lot of people that do raise the Crevecoeur Chicken are simply doing so because they want a decent ornamental bird that they can raise. And, to be honest with you, there are very, very few ornamental birds that look as good as this one.

The Crevecoeur Chicken Eggs and Egg Laying

On the egg-laying front, you should be able to get a decent number of eggs from the Crevecoeur Chicken each year. Some people report that they receive somewhere between 150 and 200, which certainly isn’t too shabby for a bird that is erring on the edge of extinction.

It is the fact that this chicken is able to produce so many eggs each year that made it so popular in the past. It is even able to lay them during the colder months of the year, although some people do claim that the laying becomes a little bit more sporadic then.

Obviously, one of the benefits of this chicken laying regular eggs is that you may be able to breed it if you want. Although it is not an easy bird to breed by any stretch of the imagination, it is always fun to do, and part of the reason why this bird still exists.

If you love the look of the Crevecoeur Chicken, and you wish for the chicken to continue to exist, then you may want to dabble in a spot of breeding on occasion.

Raising it as a Meat Chicken

Owing to the larger size of this chicken, it is often slaughtered for meat purposes if it has outlived its usefulness in the world of being a show chicken. You should be able to get a decent chunk of meat off of it when you use this bird for that.

The problem is that you shouldn’t really be raising this chicken purely for meat purposes. The meat that it produces is not really going to be anything special. Other than this it costs way too much time and effort to raise Crevecoeur Chickens purely if you want a little bit of meat.

For that reason, you will probably want to look at a few other meat chicken breeds out there.

Is This Chicken Breed the Right For You?

The Crevecoeur Chicken is known for being an immensely friendly chicken breed. It is very, very rare that you will end up with a bird that has any sort of aggression in it. This, you would think, is fantastic. However, it isn’t. While most friendly chicken breeds are perfect for a family, this one is not.

Part of the reason as to why the Crevecoeur Chicken almost went extinct is the fact that it is an incredibly hard chicken to look after.

It is not one of those breeds that can be left to its own devices after you have given it a little bit of food and water. This is a chicken that does need a lot of time and attention each and every day if you want it to thrive.

Therefore, if you are not experienced in the world of rearing chickens, then this is probably not going to be the right breed of chicken for you. It absolutely should not be the first chicken breed you raise, at least.