Association for Promotion of Belgian Poultry Breeds

A blue Bruges game hen

Origin : Already for centuries game fowl are bred in the West-Flanders region and the North of France for cock fighting. Only in 1858 the name ‘Bruges game’ or ‘Northern game’ were mentioned. The first breed standard goes back until 1908. Without any doubt the Bruges game is the oldest of the three Belgian game fowl breeds.

Characteristics : Compare to other game fowl, the hens of the Bruges game are very good layers. They produce about 150 cream-shelled eggs per year. In older hens the eggs may even weigh as much as 70 grams. Brooding occurs rarely. Besides an impressive number of eggs, the Bruges also produces a large quantity of very fine and tasteful meat. One should always remember that some bloodlines still tend to be aggressive so both sexes are best raised separately. Once the order is settled in a group, Bruges game are docile birds which can become very tame if they are paid enough attention to.

A pair of blue yellow birchen Bruges game

Appearance : The Bruges game takes a special place among the other game fowl. It is remarkable because of its large and powerful appearance. An adult rooster weighs about 5 to 5,5 kg and an adult hen about 4 kilos. The carriage of the body is upright and the flat back is hardly sloping. Probably this last characteristic was emphasized too much over the years to create an artificial bigger difference between the Bruges and Liège game. The back should be as large as long though. The thighs are very muscular and the slate-blue shanks are very powerful, thick and rather long. In contradiction to most other breeds, spurs are desired in the hens. The head is very powerful and shows very prominent eyebrows. The face and the comb are heavily pigmented and purplish red till almost black in color. The combination of the form of the head and the dark color makes it very striking and reminds a bit of a bird of prey. The comb is triple and preferred as small as possible.

Varieties : The Bruges game comes in several varieties but the most original ones are blue and blue yellow birchen. Other recognized varieties are black, white, black-red, silver duckwing, golden duckwing, blue golden duckwing, birchen, yellow birchen and blue birchen.

State : Very rare. There are only a few breeders left in the Dutch-speaking northern part of Belgium. Sporadically seen in the South of Belgium, Holland and Germany.

Magnificent Bruges game head