Pita Pinta Asturiana

The Pita Pinta Asturiana is the only breed of chicken indigenous to the principality of Asturias, in north-western Spain.

Pita Pinta Asturiana
Conservation statusendangered
Other names
  • Pita Pinta[1]
  • Pinta Asturiana
Country of originSpain
DistributionPrincipality of Asturias
Usedual-purpose, eggs and meat
Traits
Weight
  • Male:
    4–4.5 kg
  • Female:
    2.7 kg[2]
Skin coloryellow
Egg colorburnt cream
Comb typesingle
Classification

Etymology

The name comes from the Asturian language, in which pita means "hen" and pinta means "painted" or "mottled".

History

The breed belongs to the Atlantic branch of domestic chickens and has common origins with other chicken breeds in the north of Spain, such as the Euskal Oiloa of the Basque Country.[2] With the industrialisation of egg production in Asturias in the 1950s and 1960s, numbers of the breed fell dramatically, almost to the point of extinction. Recovery of the breed began between 1980 and 1990.[3] A breeders' association, the Asociación de Criadores de la Pita Pinta Asturiana, was founded in 2003; its 52 members have a total of 1842 birds.[4] A herdbook was established in 2005; at the end of 2013, a total of 2172 birds were recorded.[5]

Characteristics

The Pita Pinta is compact and of medium weight, about 4–4.5 kg for males and 2.5–3 kg for females.[3] The comb is single with 5 to 7 points, smaller in hens than in cocks. The earlobes are always red, and the eyes orange. The skin is yellow, and the beak and legs yellow with black spots. There are four colour varieties, Pinta Negra (mottled black), Pinta Roxa (mottled red-brown), Blanca (white) and Abedul (black).[3] In the Pinta Negra variety the feathers are black, edged with white, giving the characteristic mottled look.[2]

Ring size is 20 mm for cocks and 18 mm for hens.[3]

Use

The Pita Pinta is a good, regular layer, tough and responsive to the environment. Eggs are the colour of burnt cream, with a soft texture, and weigh 60–65 g.[2][3]

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References
  1. Breed data sheet: Pita Pinta/Spain. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed August 2014.
  2. Miguel Fernández Rodríguez, Mariano Gómez Fernández, Juan Vicente Delgado Bermejo, Silvia Adán Belmonte, Miguel Jiménez Cabras (eds.) (2009). Guía de campo de las razas autóctonas españolas (in Spanish). Madrid: Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Medio Rural y Marino. ISBN 9788449109461. p. 677–680.
  3. Reglamentación específica del libro genealógico de la raza aviar “Pita Pinta”: Título I. Descripción de la raza de gallina Pinta Asturiana (in Spanish). Annex to: Resolución de 22 de marzo de 2012, de la Consejería de Agroganadería y Recursos Autóctonos, por la que se aprueba el Reglamento del Libro Genealógico, el Programa de Mejora y el Programa de Difusión de la raza aviar Pita Pinta. Boletín Oficial del Principado de Asturias 93 1/32, 23 April 2012.
  4. La Pita Pinta Asturiana (in Spanish). Asociación de Criadores de la Pita Pinta Asturiana. Accessed August 2014.
  5. Raza aviar PITA PINTA: Datos Censales (in Spanish). Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente. Accessed August 2014.

Further reading


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