Malay Game

File:Tab10 Hühner (Geflügel-Album, Jean Bungartz, 1885).jpg

Malays, illustration from Jean Bungartz, Geflügel-Album, 1885

The Malay Game is a breed of game chicken. It is among the tallest breeds of chicken, and may stand over 90 cm (36 inches) high.Template:R

The Malay is bred principally in Europe,Template:R and in Australia and the United States.Template:R It was derived, partly in Devon and Cornwall in south-west England,Template:R from birds imported from the Indian subcontinentTemplate:R or South-east Asia in the first decades of the nineteenth century, when large birds of this type were widespread in northern India, in Indonesia and in the Malay Peninsula.Template:R

The Malay was the first chicken breed to be bantamised; a dwarf version of the standard-sized breed was created at the turn of the twentieth century.Template:R

History

From about 1830 very large game chickens were imported to England, where they became fashionableTemplate:R and were selectively bred by English breeders.Template:R Some imports are documented from the Malay Peninsula, others from the Deccan of India.Template:R Those from India were sometimes called Grey Chittagongs,Template:R but were considered to be closely similar to the Malay. They were particularly numerous in Devon and Cornwall, especially in the area round Falmouth, which was a common first port of call for returning East Indiamen.Template:R They were also numerous in Ireland, in the area of Dublin.Template:R An early description is that of James Joseph Nolan, published in Dublin in 1850.Template:R

Malays were shown at the first British poultry exhibition in 1845, and were included in the Standard of Excellence, the first edition of the British Poultry Standards, in 1865.Template:R

Malay birds were present in Germany and the Netherlands by about 1834, and by 1846 were introduced to the United States also.Template:R The black-breasted red Malay was included in the Standard of Perfection of the American Poultry Association from 1883, and the bantam in 1904; five other colours, both standard- and bantam-sized, were added in 1981.Template:R Numbers of the breed in the USA are very low; in 2014 its conservation status there was listed as "critical" by the FAO.Template:R

The Malay was the first chicken breed to be bantamised; a dwarf version of the standard-sized breed was created at the turn of the twentieth century.Template:R

Characteristics

The Malay is among the tallest breeds of chicken, and may stand over Template:Cvt high.Template:R The Poultry Club of Great Britain lists five colour varieties – black, black-red, pile, spangled and white – but does not exclude other colours.Template:R The same colours are recognised by the American Poultry Association, with the addition of the wheaten. The Entente Européenne lists sixteen colour variants, of which eight are recognised.Template:R

Use

The Malay is kept mostly for showing. Hens may lay approximately 80 eggs per year; the eggs are brownish or golden, and weigh some .Template:R

The Malay was among the breeds used in the development of the Índio Gigante of Brazil.