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COUNTRY of ORIGIN: Belgium

CATEGORY: Hard feather

EGG COLOUR:  Cream

For centuries game fowl were bred in the West-Flanders region and the North of France for cock fighting. Only in 1858 the name ‘Bruges game’ or ‘Northern game’ were mentioned. The first breed standard dates back to 1908. There are three Belgian game fowl breeds – Bruges, Liege and the Flemish Game.

At the end of the nineteenth century cockers in the Liege Region probably crossed the Liegeois with a Malay or Asian heavy breed to make an even better fighter and thus created the Bruges Blues Game. (Ref CA Finsterbush – “Cock fighting all over the world” page 324). Their colour is Andalusian blue, slate or any other shade of grey. They are preferably bred blue, very heavy and large and though profusely feathered are fairly Oriental in features.

Compared to other game fowl, the hens of the Bruges game are very good layers. They produce about 150 cream-shelled eggs per year. In older hens the eggs may even weigh as much as 70 grams. Brooding occurs rarely. Besides an impressive number of eggs, the Bruges also produces a large quantity of  fine and tasty meat. One must remember that some bloodlines still tend to be aggressive so both sexes are best raised separately. Once the order is settled in a group, Bruges game are docile birds which can become very tame if they are paid enough attention to.

Only at the end of the seventies serious attempts were made to breed bantam versions of the large Belgian Game Fowl Breeds. Bantams grow a lot quicker and start laying at much younger age than that of the large fowl. The hens brood very easily and they are good mothers.

In Belgian Game special attention should be paid to type, carriage and size which are of more importance than colour and markings.

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