Meat · Breed · Short entry
Malines
A heavy Belgian table chicken from Mechelen (Malines), named 'cuckoo' (koekoek) for its black-and-white plumage pattern. It was made from Asian imports and local fowl and standardised in 1898. Long sold in Brussels, it nearly disappeared after the Second World War and has returned with organic farming.
The Brussels chicken
The Rare Poultry Society (UK) says the breed comes from the town of Mechelen, or Malines, and was created by a Mr de Winter from Asian imports and local breeds such as the Coucou des Flandres. It was standardised in 1898 as a table bird, and a "turkey-headed" variety arose from crosses with Belgian game fowl. A 2025 Brussels Times feature traces its roots to the 1850s, when local farmers crossed their hens with large birds brought from Shanghai by Antwerp Zoo, and later with imported Brahma, Langshan and Cochin. It names Florent Vermylen of Schriek as a breeder in the early twentieth century.
The bird was especially popular in Brussels, where it was also called "Poulet de Bruxelles". According to the same article, a salmonella outbreak nearly wiped it out after the Second World War. Small farmers and enthusiasts kept it going, and it has revived with organic farming.
How it connects
Breed
- similar Plymouth Rock
