Scots Dumpy
{{use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{use list-defined references|date=December 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2019}}
{{short description|Scottish breed of creeper chicken}}
{{infobox poultry breed
| name = Scots Dumpy
| image = Dumpies belonging to J. Fairlie, Esq, Wingfield 1853.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| image_caption = Dumpies at the Metropolitan Poultry Show in Baker Street, London, Christmas 1852; wood engraving from: William Wingfield, The Poultry Book, 1853
| status = {{ubl|{{nobreak|FAO (2007): critical (bantam){{r|barb|page=123}}}}|RBST (2009): at risk{{r|rbst}}|DAD-IS (2019): no data{{r|dad}}}}
| altname = {{ubl|Bakie|Corlaigh|Crawler|Creeper|Scotch Bakie|Stumpy}}
| country = Scotland
| distribution =
| standard = [https://web.archive.org/web/20191213133030/http://www.scotsdumpyclub.org.uk/standard/ PCGB]
| apa =
| aba =
| ee = not recognised{{r|ee}}
| pcgb = soft feather: light{{r|pcgb}}
| maleweight = {{ubl|standard: 3.2 kg{{r|roberts|page=264}}|bantam: 800 g{{r|roberts|page=265}}}}
| femaleweight = {{ubl|standard: 2.7 kg{{r|roberts|page=264}}|bantam: 675 g{{r|roberts|page=265}}}}
| skincolour =
| eggcolour = white or cream-coloured{{r|allonby|page=277}}
| comb =
| note =
| type = Chicken
| latin = Gallus gallus domesticus
}}
The Scots Dumpy is a traditional Scottish breed of chicken. It is characterised by very short legs, so short that the body is a few centimetres from the ground; as in other breeds of creeper chicken, this chondrodystrophy is caused by a recessive lethal allele. The Dumpy has at times been known by other names, among them Bakie, Corlaigh, Crawler, Creeper and Stumpy.{{r|pcgb2|rbst2}} There are both standard-sized and bantam Scots Dumpies.{{r|dad|dad2}} It is one of two Scottish breeds of chicken, the other being the Scots Grey.
History
The Scots Dumpy is a traditional Scottish breed; short-legged birds of this type have been bred in Scotland for more than two centuries.{{r|rbst2}} Some were introduced to England in the mid-nineteenth century, and were first shown at the Metropolitan Poultry Exhibition in Baker Street in London in 1852.{{r|rbst2|bill|page2=222}} In 1854 John Fairlie of Cheveley Park in Cambridgeshire showed some at the Cheltenham Poultry Show in Cheltenham.{{r|pc1854|page=386}} It later became one of the rarest British breeds. In 1975 a search for surviving stock in Scotland was unsuccessful. Two years later a dozen birds were imported from Kenya, descendants of a small flock taken there in 1902 in the dowry of Violet Mabel Carnegie, and used to re-constitute the breed.{{r|rbst2|jan|page2=424}}
In 2009 it was listed by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust as "at risk", the lowest of the four levels of endangerment the RBST assigned to poultry at that time.{{r|rbst}}
Characteristics
There is no set colour for the Scots Dumpy, which is usually cuckoo, black or white; the breed standard allows any colour standardised in other breeds.{{r|roberts|page=262}} The comb is single and bright red. The ear-lobes are small, the wattles of medium size; they and the face are also bright red.{{r|roberts|page=264}}{{efn|name= a}} The eyes are red in the white and cuckoo varieties, dark in the black.{{r|roberts|page=264}}
The legs are abnormally short, the shanks no longer than {{convert|3.75|cm|abbr=on|1}}, so the birds have an unusual waddling or swimming gait. They are otherwise normal in all respects, with a long heavy low-set body, deep breast, broad back, and well-arched tail. They have four toes.{{r|roberts|page=262}}
Use
Notes
{{Notelist | refs=
{{efn|name = a |The earlobes are described as white in a description from 1854{{r|meall|page=161}}}}
}}
References
{{reflist|45em|refs=
}}{{Scottish animal breeds}}{{Agriculture of Scotland}}{{British livestock|R.4}}
Category:Chicken breeds originating in Scotland
Category:Chicken breeds originating in the United Kingdom