Yurlov Crower

The Geflügel-Börse magazine articles published by two German writers, Rüdiger Wandelt in 1993 and Wolfgang Vits in 1994, introduced the breed to poultry fanciers in Germany.

The continued contacts between German and Russian poultry breeders in the 1990s and 2000s led to the import of the Yurlov Crower breed to Western Europe and growth of its popularity first in Germany and then in other European countries.

Based on the data collected in 1993, a Ukrainian strain of Yurlov Crowers (line 92) was included in the second edition of the FAO's World Watch List in 1995 (Scherf, 1995).

The current population of the Yurlov Crower chickens in Russia and Ukraine may be several thousands including both state farms and fanciers.

However, bird influenza may represent a serious threat to and decrease numbers of pure chicken breeds (including Yurlovs) in these countries to a large extent.