In the buff

In his series on birds that breed true, Grant Brereton looks at the various buff varieties, one of which has a very special royal connection

- Grant Brereton

There are many breeds of poultry that have a buff version, and by far the most popular of these is the BuffOrpington. The term buff describes fowl that are generally the same shade of light orange all over, but in terms of descriptive accuracy, the word buffis perhaps a little loose. Buff as a feather colour ranges from a light blonde, as seen in the Buff Plymouth Rock, to a shade that borders on ginger, as seen in some strains of BuffOrpington.

A BIT OF HISTORY

Buffplumage in poultry, particularly soft-feathered breeds, is attributed largely to a common ancestor that eventually became the large fowl breed we know today as the Cochin. Early Cochins were imported to British shores in the 1840s from the Far East province of Shanghai in China and were referred to here as Shangaes. However, in stark contrast to what they would later evolve into (profusely feathered, feather-legged Cochins), the Shangaes were quite tall specimens with sparse leg feathering and black tails.

As well as undergoing their own transformation into Buff Cochins, Shangaes were readily crossed with farmyard fowl to form the basis of other breeds.