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A neck bred for biting

Quick, what do you think of when I say “Transylvania”? Right. And where do vampires generally bite? Right again: on the neck. So, what are we to make of a breed of chicken called the Transylvanian Naked Neck? That is was bred to be bitten?

Transylvanian Naked Neck rooster
Transylvanian Naked Neck rooster
I think not. Naturally I was more than piqued when I saw Transylvanian Naked Neck in the subject line of a mailing list Luigi hangs out on. Ugly buggers, we both agreed, but one fancier swears that “over a dozen hens have chosen Turkey-Neck 1 as their heart-throb. We think this is because he’s gentle with girlfriends and very stern with younger, oversexed roosters.” The condition is apparently the result of a single gene that “affects the arrangement of feather-growing tracts over the chicken’s body”. Indeed, it reduces the density of feathers all over the chicken, “but this is not evident until the bird is handled”. The lack of insulation means that naked neck breeds should be given extra protection against low temperatures, but that “does not detract from the utility of the bird”.

As for the original discussion, it ended with reference to a paper Prospects for conserving traditional poultry breeds of the Carpathian Basin in which the Transylvanian Naked Neck is just one of the breeds considered. There’s a bunch of stuff in there about why the breeds are valuable and how they’re being conserved, and lots of pictures. But not an answer to the fundamental question: What (if any) evolutionary value does a naked neck give its holder? Probably none. And if they suffer more in cold weather it could even be harmful, but at least some people, and not just photophobic immortals, find them attractive. Which is a good enough reason to conserve them. Luigi reckons they probably taste good too.

Photo by Flint-Hill, used with permission.

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Mexico City protects maize landraces

In an almighty panic about GM maize, the government of Mexico City has sprung energetically into action. The result is a “Declaration of Protection of the Maize Breeds of the Mexico Altiplano.” There are said to be “more than 60” maize landraces in the part of the Altiplano that falls within the confines of the Distrito Federal, which I assume is the area over which the Declaration will be applicable.

The Declaration includes provision for:

  • establishing a research programme to improve local maize breeds
  • supporting farmers who sow only native seeds
  • promoting the use of organic fertilizer and pesticides
  • banning of the purchase and distribution of transgenic maize in Mexico City
  • establishing a germplasm bank for the Altiplano’s maize seeds

I have a few questions about all this, but I’ll just pose one here. Has anyone asked the CIMMYT genebank, just outside Mexico City, whether by any chance it already has the Altiplano’s maize landraces?