Houdan

American  

[hoo-dan] / ˈhu dæn /

noun

1. one of a French breed of chickens having a V -shaped comb, five toes, and mottled or black plumage.

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Houdan British  

/ ˈhuːdæn /

noun

1. a breed of light domestic fowl originally from France, with a distinctive full crest

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Etymology

Origin of Houdan

First recorded in 1870–75; after Houdan, village near Paris where these hens were bred

Example Sentences

The Houdan hen was never drawn into the cult of Sredni Vashtar.

From The Chronicles of Clovis by Saki

In the outskirts of the town,--and flanked, rather than surrounded, by two or three rows of trees, of scarcely three years growth--stands the "stiff and stower" remains of the Castle of Houdan.

From A Bibliographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour in France and Germany, Volume One by Dibdin, Thomas Frognall

The six dead birds were Minorcas; the seventh was a Houdan with a mop of feathers all over its eyes. 

From Beasts and Super-Beasts by Saki

Then I halted, and despatching the two grooms to Houdan with a letter for my wife, I took, myself, the road to Le Mesnil, which lies about three leagues to the west.

From From the Memoirs of a Minister of France by Weyman, Stanley John

"It is not good for him to be pottering down there in all weathers," she promptly decided, and at breakfast one morning she announced that the Houdan hen had been sold and taken away overnight.

From The Chronicles of Clovis by Saki