Association for Promotion of Belgian Poultry Breeds

Origin : The Herve descends just like the Ardenner from the ancient primitive Gallic breed, the Gauloise. Of course this is the reason for the similar characters of both breeds. This sober breed originates from the Land of Herve in the province of Liège where it was very well adapted to life in the meadows. The exact time of origin is not really known but ‘li neure poie di pai’ or ‘the black landfowl’ is mentioned several times in old writings. The breed standard was drawn up by the ‘Union Avicole de Liège’ in 1896. The big promoter of this breed was Mr. Weerts. On his initiative a breed association was founded. The First World War was also for this breed an enormous threat but luckily Weerts knew to hide a few good birds and after the war it quickly regained it’s success from before the war. In 1923 almost 150 Herves were entered at a poultry exhibition in Liège. In the end the success declined and the breed almost disappeared.

 Pair of black Herve

Characteristics : The Herve is a very rustic breed with very natural instincts. They easily run wild, they easily fly, the fencing can hardly be high enough and they sleep outside in all weather conditions. They lay pretty good and the whitish eggs weigh about 65 grams.

Appearance : The Herve is often considered as an Ardenner without pigmentation in the unfeathered tissues but this isn’t true. The Herve is squarer with rounded forms while the Ardenner is much more streamlined. The back is much less sloping and the tail is carried more open. The face, wattles and comb are always bright red. The eyes, beak and shanks are always dark in the black and blue varieties but in the cuckoo variety they are orange and pinkish white respectively. The weight of the Herve and the Ardenner is quit similar, 2,5 kg for an adult rooster and 2 kg for an adult hen.

Varieties : There are only three recognized varieties of which black is the most common. The other two are blue laced and cuckoo. These two also have very specific names which are only applied to this breed. Blue is also called ‘Mauheid’ and cuckoo is also called ‘Cotte de Fer’.

State : Rare. Mostly seen in the Southern French-speaking part of Belgium and usually only the black variety. The blues are more rare and the cuckoo are very rare. In the Northern Dutch-speaking part only the blacks are present but they are extremely rare. Unknown in other countries.

Pair of black Herve