Like its Parisian relative, the Italian Giant Frill does not suit everyone. The extreme fine breeding of it has inevitably influenced certain aspects of its rusticity.

More than in other breeds, the encounter between the two sexes when pairs are formed can give rise to a violent reaction of incompatibility on the part of the cock or the hen. Frequently the initial aggression of one of the two partners - generally speaking, the male - ends up triggering a similar reaction in the other one. This leads to constant scrapping that needs watching for quite a long period after the pair has been formed to make sure there arenít potentially serious consequences.

I agree with Prof. Zingoni about the cause of this aggressive behaviour; he attributes it, in many cases at least, to the fact that in the behavioural representation (I was about to say "mental") of the male Italian Giant Frill there is still a "little female" of the wild kind, or something similar, while what it finds itself faced with is a "beast" that stimulates it in all respects except in seeing it in the role of an attractive and willing companion. In all probability, the female also has the same initial "diffidence", even if this is less apparent because of its more peaceful behavioural disposition. Sometimes, the pair may need separating to avoid the worst, and if subsequently you want to persist, you have to use a partition to make sure that "peaceful cohabitation" is possible, and that the conditions for "a consummation of the marriage" exist. In a word, lots of patience and time, in order to avoid, amongst other things, the unfortunate phenomenon of "non-fecund eggs".

While in the Parisian it is not unusual to find exemplars, especially male ones, that have a "rigid, rear toe", in Italian Giant Frills this defect is virtually unknown, and precocious blindness is also very rare. In both cases the absolute rule is to prevent these subjects from reproducing. The reasons for this seem quite evident.

My Italian Giant Frills have reached such a level of fine breeding that to make them tend to their offspring seems to be a form of self-inflicted damage, so the use of a feeding bird is indispensable. I prefer Lizards for this task, but the old types of Coloured Canaries and the Fiorini give reliable results.