Creeper chickens have been known and described since Renaissance times at least. An early description is in the De avium natura of the Swiss naturalist Conrad Gessner of 1555.[5][6] Chickens of this type were described and illustrated in the Monstrorum Historia of the Bolognese naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522–1605), published posthumously in 1642 with text by Bartolomeo Ambrosini.[4]: 423 [7]: 562 In his The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication of 1868, Charles Darwin writes that creeper chickens were among the types described in a Chinese encyclopaedia compiled from earlier sources and published in 1596.[8]: 247
The Krüper was traditionally found in the former Duchy of Berg (now known as the Bergisches Land), and also in Westphalia and Saxony. After the near-extinction of the French "Courtes-Pattes", this breed could be reconstructed by crossing local French chickens with krupers. The bantam variety, which also had become extinct, has been rebred by crossbreeding with German bantams.
A breed society, the Sonderverein der Krüper- und Zwergkrüperzüchter was established in 1904.[5]
A census in Germany in 2013 resulted in a number of 288 hens and 79 cocks, including all varieties. Sperm of some cocks has therefore been cryo-conserved by the Bruno-Dürigen Institute as a genetic reserve.[11]
Characteristics
The most typical feature of the Krüper is the reduced length of the legs, measuring 7-10 cm. The cock weights max. 2.25 kg, the hen 1.5-2.0 kg. The comb is single, the earlobes white and round. The body is long and cylindrical.[5] The legs are slate grey.[12] The eggs are white-coloured. The kruper is known in black, white, cuckoo, silver, gold and partridge. The bantams can be found in white and silver duckwing plumage.[5] The silver and gold animals have a typical broad feather lacing called "Dobbelung", which only occurs in the three Berg chicken breeds.