Catalana

The Catalana, known in its homeland as Catalana del Prat, is a chicken breed that took shape in Catalonia, in the north-east of Spain. It is a dual-purpose fowl, bred to give a fair number of eggs as well as a decent carcass for the pot. The plumage carries a warm golden-buff shade with a black tail, a combination that marks it out from most other Mediterranean breeds.

This breed handles heat and dry spells with ease, which is exactly why it works well in Indian backyards through the peak summer months. Where many northern breeds slow down in the heat, the Catalana keeps moving about the yard, scratching for insects, seeds and greens. Given a decent patch of open ground, it manages a good part of its own feeding.

The Catalana is not a bird that likes to be picked up and cuddled; it is alert and self-reliant, forever on the move. It puts up with handling when required but is happiest with room to roam, which makes it a sound pick for free-range and small-holding setups rather than a cramped run behind the house.

Who it suits

The Catalana suits keepers who have some open ground for foraging and who live in a warm or moderate climate, which covers a good deal of India outside the higher hills. It rewards owners after a productive bird that needs little fuss, rather than a calm pet that likes sitting on your lap. Keepers in cold, damp regions, or those with birds cooped up in a small fixed run, may find this breed restless and difficult to settle.

The Catalana takes its name from Catalonia, the region in the north-east of Spain where farmers developed it. It is tied closely to the town of El Prat de Llobregat, near Barcelona, and its full Spanish name, Catalana del Prat, points straight back to that origin. Local farmers worked with ordinary Mediterranean farmyard stock over several generations, shaping a bird useful for both the egg basket and the table.

By the 19th century the breed had become an established, recognised type in Spain. It grew into one of the country's most widely kept native fowls and a source of regional pride in Catalonia, turning up regularly on farms and at local markets.

Spanish traders and emigrants carried the Catalana across the Atlantic, and it settled into parts of South America, where the climate suited its liking for heat. Countries such as Argentina took to the breed and kept it going for generations.

Beyond Spain and South America the Catalana has stayed a fairly uncommon sight, India included, where it is recognised more by poultry standard bodies than found in large numbers on farms. It is now valued chiefly as a heritage breed rather than a mainstream commercial one.

The Catalana is a medium-sized bird that carries itself in a fairly upright, alert stance. The body is solid and nicely rounded for a dual-purpose fowl, set on clean legs without any feathering. The overall build stays balanced rather than heavy, in keeping with a breed made for ranging and foraging rather than sitting about.

The single comb is red and stands upright in cocks, while in hens the back portion often flops to one side. The face is red, the earlobes white, and the beak and legs run to a light slate or bluish shade.

Coat and colours

The signature colour is a warm golden buff across the body, set off by a black tail and black flight feathers, sometimes extending into the neck hackles too. In good light this black often carries a greenish sheen. A bantam version of the Catalana turns up in some regions, carrying the same buff-and-black pattern on a smaller frame.

The Catalana is an energetic, self-reliant chicken that spends most of the day on the move, scratching about and hunting across the yard, always watchful of what is going on around it. This alertness helps it react quickly to a stray dog or a hawk overhead, but it can also turn flighty if startled or kept in a tight space.

Around people the breed stays even-tempered without being affectionate. Catalanas will put up with handling and routine care, but they keep their distance and rarely settle down as a lap bird. Within the flock they generally mix well and get along with other poultry, provided there is enough room for everyone to spread out. Shut up in a small run, they tend to grow restless, so space matters more for this breed than for most.

Hens do not go broody easily, so keepers wanting chicks usually turn to an incubator or borrow a broody hen of another breed.

The Catalana is a tough breed that asks for little beyond sound, basic poultry care. Its main requirements are space to range and protection from conditions its Spanish homeland never really gave it, mainly cold and damp weather, which matters during a wet Indian monsoon.

Grooming

• Keep a dry dust-bathing patch so birds can look after their own feather condition.
• Check legs and vent regularly for mites and lice, especially once the monsoon humidity sets in.
• Look over the smooth single comb for frost or cold damage during a cold snap in the hills.
• Trim nails or beak only if they grow too long, which rarely happens in birds that stay active on the range.

Exercise

• Let birds out to free-range or into an open run daily for foraging.
• Give as much ground as the plot allows, since this breed dislikes being shut in.
• Set up perches and scatter some grain to keep birds occupied through the day.
• Use secure fencing, since active Catalanas can clear low barriers with a short flight.

Environment

The Catalana copes well with heat and dry spells but struggles more in cold, wet winters than in an Indian summer. Provide shade and fresh water through the hot months and during the monsoon, and keep the coop dry, draft-free and well ventilated once the weather turns cool in northern India. A well-bedded shed and a covered run help the flock stay healthy right through the year.

A complete commercial poultry feed forms the base of the Catalana's diet, with the type matched to the bird's age and purpose. Since the breed forages well, free-ranging birds top up their intake with insects, seeds and green plants, which cuts down on how much prepared feed they actually need. Keep clean, fresh water on hand alongside the feed at all times.

Laying hens need extra calcium for strong shells, usually given as crushed oyster shell or limestone grit offered free choice. Birds that do not have access to soil also need insoluble grit to help grind their food.

Treats and supplements

Keep treats such as scratch grain, leafy greens and kitchen scraps to around 10 percent of the total diet so the main ration stays balanced. Offer grit and oyster shell separately rather than mixing them into the feed. A vitamin and electrolyte supplement in the drinking water can help birds through spells of heat stress or while recovering from illness.

The Catalana is, on the whole, a healthy, long-lived chicken, with a usual lifespan of 6 to 8 years under decent care. It carries no widespread breed-specific disorders. Most health trouble it does run into is the ordinary sort that affects all poultry, and good husbandry heads off most of it. Its heat tolerance is a real strength, though the upright single comb can suffer frostbite during a hard winter in the hills.

Preventive care

• Keep the coop clean, dry and well ventilated, particularly once the monsoon sets in.
• Run a routine parasite and deworming programme.
• Quarantine new or returning birds before letting them join the flock.
• Follow local vaccination advice where it applies.
• Provide balanced feed and constant clean water.

The Catalana is built for open, free-range life and does best where it can forage across a good stretch of ground. Housing should give the flock a secure, dry spot to roost and lay, paired with as much outdoor space as the plot allows. The breed suits warm, dry regions particularly well, but in the cooler stretches of the country the coop still needs to keep birds dry and out of drafts through winter, and dry through a heavy monsoon too.

Setup checklist

• A sturdy, predator-proof coop with latches that actually hold.
• Raised perches set above the bedded floor.
• Clean, shaded nest boxes with dry bedding.
• A dust-bathing patch somewhere in the run.
• Shade and fresh water across the range for the hot months.
• Fencing tall enough to hold in active, light-bodied birds.

Catalana hens are not great setters, so reliable hatching usually comes down to an incubator or a broody hen of another breed. The eggs follow the usual chicken incubation pattern, hatching at around 21 days. Set clean, well-shaped eggs and store them pointed end down at a cool room temperature for no more than about a week before setting.

Hatching steps

1. Pick clean, undamaged eggs of a normal shape and size.
2. Let stored eggs warm up to room temperature before setting.
3. Set the incubator to 37.5 C and let temperature and humidity settle.
4. Turn the eggs regularly right through day 18.
5. Stop turning on day 18 and raise the humidity for lockdown.
6. Leave hatched chicks in the incubator until dry and fluffed out, then move them into a warm brooder.