Breed Standards (by Nation)

     There are a number of different standards for the Russian Orloff chicken. At least three are known, but two--the German standard and the British standard--are probably the most reliable. It has been popularly claimed that the Orloff was once included in the APA's Standard of Perfection, but due to a recent email from APA President Sam Brush posted on the USOC Forum (see the Home Page), it is now believed that the bird described in the 1800s SOP was not the Orloff but rather a different breed known as the Black Russian.
     One would assume that the Russian standard for the Orloff would be the most reliable (simply because the Orloff bears the name of a Russian count, and also is called the "Russian" Orloff), but the Russian standard should not be heavily relied upon, in my opinion, because the Orloff as we know it today was perfected (i.e. extensively bred and standardized) in Germany and later Great Britain. Also, some of the breeds thought to make up the Orloff's bloodlines are natives to the German region of Europe. However, there are certain points on the Russian standard that coincide with the German and British standards, so I do not at all propose trashing it entirely.
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Standard #1, United Kingdom
Origin: Iran and Russia
Classification: Heavy Rare
Egg colour: Tinted
This breed originally came from the Gilan province of northern Iran, where it was known as the Chlianskaia. Some were taken to Moscow and renamed by Count Orloff Techesmensky. From Russia they became known to British, Dutch and German poultry experts in the 1880s and 1890s, and an Orloff Club existed in Britain in the 1920s and 1930s.
Orloff bantams have been known in Germany since 1925, but did not reach Britain until the 1970s. As this standard indicates, Orloffs are mainly judged on type and character, especially of the head. Plumage colour is a secondary consideration.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS:

MALE:
Carriage: Upright with slightly sloping back.
Type: Body broad and fairly long. Flat, slightly sloping back. Breast rather full and prominent. Closely carried wings of moderate length. Tail of medium size with fairly narrow sickles. Carriage rather low but slightly above horizontal.
Head: Skull wide, of medium size. Beak short, stout and well hooked. Eyes full, and deeply set under well projecting (beetle) eyebrows.
Comb: Low and flat similar to a raspberry cut lengthways and covered with small/tiny feathers.
Face: Beard and muffs each side of head.
Neck: Fairly long and erect, very heavily covered with hackle feathering (boule).
Legs and Feet: Moderately long and stout. Thighs muscular and well apart. Shanks round and finely scaled. Toes, four long and well spread.

FEMALE:
With exception of the beard and muffling being more developed, and the tail, the general characteristics are similar to those of the male. Leg colour in both sexes is yellow to pale orange.
From The Russain Orloff Society Website

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Standard #2, Germany


Overall impression

Well medium-sized, heavily muscled, broad bodied, crude middle form between Landrace and Malay with quite strong skeleton; fairly robust structure, medium high build; raised erect posture; bearded; here and there richly feathered; in spite of the wild appearance of very tame character.


Breeding Characteristics - Cock





Body: hard; raised erect posture
Neck: long; raised erect; with full hackles, not covering the shoulders; in the nape blown out, in neck clearly separated from the back.
Back: medium length; broad; level; sloping
Shoulders: broadly, clearly set off
Wings: moderately long; carried close to body; slightly protruding wing bow
Saddle: broad, with full medium length hackles
Tail: relatively short with many moderately long flowing sickles; quite broad and upright carried to right angles
Breast: broadly; not protruding
Belly: broad and well developed
Head: medium-sized; in front very broad; moderately arched; with overhanging eyebrows
Face: red; partly covered from the beard
Comb: Walnut comb, partially covered with feather bristles, sitting tightly on skull
Wattles: stunted, covered by beard
Ear lobes: insignificant; covered by beard
Eyes: large; pearl to orange-red in color; appearing smaller due to protruding eyebrows, dark/gloomy and wild looking
Beak: short, strong; yellow or horn
Beard: heavy cheek beard as well as full chin beard on the lower beak
Thighs: medium long; well protuberant; tightly feathered
Feet: medium long; smooth; lemon to orange-yellow
Toes: hard; medium long; well spread
Plumage: in the head tightly feathered; neck plumage moderately long, but very rich and in the nape blown out, up to the shoulders passing them, however, not covering; saddle hackles full, but without cushion; full and moderately long in the tail; in the breast relatively short, so that with full crop the under-feathers come out

Breeding Characteristics – Hen






The hen corresponds in the essential signs to the cock, nevertheless, is less sloping in the back and is developed in the belly more fully. The comb is barely developed and partially taken with feather bristles. The cervical hangings are strongly blown out in the nape (ruff).



Coarse mistakes/racial characteristics

Narrow, spindly trunk; a little developed belly; very narrow breast; arched or very narrow back; too high leg position; not enough beard.

NOTE: The above photos were taken from the German Orloff Club website (see link on the Home Page).



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Standard #3: Russia

Cock:
Very large, broad at the shoulders. Back of neck bulging at the top

Head - medium sized and very broad
Comb- raspberry, small bristle feathers grow in between ( I guess raspberry is the same as strawberry combs?)
Beak- thick, short, curved steeply.Nostrils & base covered with thick red skin
Eyes- amber. Overhanging brows
Earlobes- small , red
Beard- thick, full
Neck- Long, straight, hackles flowing. Shoulders are not as feathered as neck
Breast- full, round.
Back- flat and wide
Wings- medium length. Wings folded tightly
Tail- medium length. Held straight up, long sickle feathers.
Shanks- long and strong.Yellow. Four toes. Absence of feathers

Hen-
Beard more developed than males, completely covering earlobes. Lighter yellow legs. Rest of features are same as cocks

Color:
Spangled:
Beard light gray, white at edges.Some red feathers acceptable
Head, neck, back brownish red.
Breast and body are black with white spots.
Wings- brown. Primaries white. Black horizontal line through middle of wing
Tail- black with white tips. Main tail feathers white.
*hens brown or light brown with white spots evenly distributed

Mahogany:
Beard- dark grey. reddish brown head.
Neck- shiny red
Chest and body- shiny reddish brown
Black wings
Tail- black with brown tips
*hens are all brownish red
 

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