Robusta Maculata
Italian breeds of chickens

Origin and main characteristics

The selection work completed in 1965 at the Experimental Poultry Station in Rovigo, a city in Northern Italy. The Buff Oprington and the White America contributed to its creation. This breed has become more and more popular in last years, most of all because of its graceful look.
The Robusta Maculata has a good rusticity, excellent for biological breeding and typical productions.
Double-purpose breed (meat and eggs). Medium precocity.
The layers have quite good precocity. The eggs have a shell from rosy to brown.
Mean production: 140-160 (55-60 g).
The meat is delicate and abundant.
The age for the slaughtering is about 18 week. Generally it’s reared as pure breed stock; at 4 months the pullets and the cockerels weight 1.9-2.0 kg. It’s also used for crossbreeding: females x White America or Hampshire. Those hybrids have a mean weight of 1.3 kg (cockerel) and 1.1 kg (pullet).
The Robusta Maculata can be bought at the Agricultural High School “C. Cavour”, Castelfranco Veneto (TV), phone n. +39 0423 22283

Morphology

Dual-purpose chicken.
The chicks have dark down with light speckling, the abdomen is light and the head has a brown spot.
Elegant and proud look. Thick and well developed plumage.
The cock has a silver neck hackles.
The back is also silver, but with a darker nuance. The whole body is irregularly spotted.
The hen, smaller then the cock, has a darker speckling. The basic colour of the plumage is white, with big dark spots all over the body.
Single comb, red earlobes, yellow skin and shanks.

Mean weight:
- Cock: 4.0-4.5 kg
- Hen: 2.8-3.3 kg

Sexual maturity begins at 6-7th month in males and 5-6th month in females.

Standard

Trunk: ample
Neck: medium length, slightly curved.
Back: broad shoulders, well developed.
Brest: ample and well shaped.
Abdomen: ample, with rich plumage.
Wings: tight to the body, horizontal.
Tail: short and broad.
Head: medium size and well shaped.
Comb: single and erect, quite big, with 6-8 points.
Wattles: red and very big.
Earlobes: red.
Face: red and smooth.
Eyes: from orange to red.
Beak: strong, slightly curved.
Thighs: with big muscles, well feathered, without cushions.
Shanks: short, fine-boned, without feathers, yellow.
Livery:
Structure: thick, soft, smooth, yellow skin.
Colour: silver laced.
Defects:
Weakness of the body, cushions, flat breast, white skin and shanks, white ear lobes.

Source: Veneto Agricoltura

Robusta Maculata cock and hen (photo M. Arduin)