Introducing one of the oldest chicken breeds.
From Russia With Love
The name of the breed has been derived from the name of village Pavlovo of the Nizhniy Novgorod province. Now known as the city of Pavlovo. In ancient times Pavlovo was named "village Vulkanovo";
This is the city now in more modern times.
The Pavlovskaya breed was at one time considered lost to the world of poultry keepers. It originated from Russia and at one point no more could be found. The bird originally came from an area in Russia a village called Pavlovo. The classification for this breed is a Central European chicken breed considered to be purely ornamental.
Could this breed be Royal? Since 1729 they can be traced back through their stud book and legend has it that the ancestors of this breed were actually from the Empress of Russia Catherine II own poultry yard. I can believe that as the birds are very regal and royal looking with their beautiful tall stature, and willowy crest and muffs and beard. They stand horizontal with pride. Their feathered legs or boots give them a sort of charm not seen in other breeds. Over time the bird became a Russian national breed. To own such a magnificent bird obtained high rewards as the chickens were the eye catchers of any poultry shows their owners attended.
So how did they nearly become lost when they were at one time so popular?
The Pavlov actually ratified by the standard in 1905 as The Russian Poultry Breed.
The golden Pavlovs were owned by breeders in Great Britain, Germany and Austria, but by the end of the 19th Century it seems they completely disappeared. Perhaps they fell out of fashion by breeders. No one seems to know why they just seem to disappear.
It wasn't until about 1980 that the breed was once again sought after and through a lot of time and effort and tracing descendants the breed was finally restored to all its glory. The resurrection of the breed started with 3 cocks and 5 hens, lots of materials and documents and photos, articles and drawings which helped get it 'right' and they even used mounted specimens found in museums in Russia as a standard template.
Far right: photo of a pair of mounted Pavlovs in the Pushkin Museum.
Right: Close up of the typical leg feathering (1903).
Finally the EE Standard for the Pavlov was drawn up in November 2013 by all the Russian Central Board of Experts in assessment of pure-bred chicken breeds. In May 2014 the Standard was finally approved by the European Standard committee and it was agreed that any breeder attempting to breed the Pavlov chicken would be required to follow this standard.
The following plumage colour varieties were described in the mentioned standard: Silver, Golden, White - crested Black, White - crested Grey (Blue) and White - crested White. The black birds with white crest and yellow shanks were the most rare of those varieties.
