The Chicken from Valdarno is one of the two breeds that once existed in the area where Arno river flows between the province of Arezzo and Firenze.
Along with the White Valdarnese once existed even the Black Egg maker but nowadays it has extinguished.
The chicken from Valdarno shows a white set of feathers and a simple crest, upright in the rooster and folded in the hen, large blood-red-coloured wattles, yellow legs and skin. Males get feathers rather late (when they are 40-50 days old they are still mainly bare), that is an element that can serve to identify the breed.
In the rooster the tail has short tuft. In 4-5 months the rooster wieghs as 2-2,5 kg and females weigh 1,5-2 kg.
Muscles of legs are well developed while the breast muscles are rather small (more than the livornese breeed).
The hen shows a strong attitude to brooding and thus it is a ordinary producer of eggs (with a white skin).
Meat is excellent. The animal is so rusty and resists in a dump climate typical of its original area.
The growing
Since the breed covers with feathers late in its growth it cannot be grown in a battery because the attacks can cause death to young roosters.
Animals are grown in ringed lands in small poultries for the younger ones or completely free but controlled to defend them against any predator.
They can have 10 square meters each and usually they are grown in woody areas and in the bush.
They are fed with mixed nourishings in a great part provided by natural pasture (the eat grass and insects): sun and open air are good for their skin pigmentation.
The breed is grown mainly for family use: the greater part of growings has 20 or 25 animals.
The selection of that breed started in 1957 by the isntitution of a suitable group of chicken producers with selection centres in Montevarchi and Loro Ciuffenna (province of Arezzo).
It is cooked mainly grilled or stuffed with "rocchi" (white chickory hamburgers), but it is used even for all the others recipes based in chcken meat (boiled or roasted, etc...).
In the province of Firenze and Arezzo there are about 15 chicken growers, particularly in San Giovanni Valdarno. You can consider a production of 6 thousand chicken a year mainly destined to direct sale on site.
