Bring Back Those Old Time Chickens
The Heritage chicken versus the industrial chicken. What’s the difference?
The difference between Heritage and industrial chickens.
About 8,000 years ago, chickens were domesticated from the red jungle fowl, a sprightly chickenlike bird that still thrives in the wilds of Southeast Asia. Recent research suggests that multiple domestications may have occurred roughly simultaneously in South and Southeast Asia, in places such as North and South China, Thailand, Burma and India.
Since then, hundreds of breeds and types of chickens have evolved through natural and human selection, all tailormade to suit the needs of the people who kept them and the climates and conditions in which they lived. Now, they’re disappearing from the earth at an alarming rate.
Chickens are not alone; all livestock species share the same fate. According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), at least 1,500 of the world’s estimated 6,000 livestock breeds are in imminent danger of extinction. The organization claims that the world is currently losing an average of two domestic animal breeds each week and that half of the breeds that existed in Europe in 1900 are already extinct.
Poultry breeds are especially imperiled. In 2004, the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) conducted a census of chicken breeds. Of the 70-some breeds currently maintained by American poultry breeders, half are endangered and 13 are practically extinct.
Industrialized farming fans the flames of this worldwide trend. Large corporations maintain factory-farmed chickens in controlled environments (eliminating the need for breeds adapted to various regions or climates); they control their birds’ health through liberal doses of antibiotic cocktails (quashing the need for disease-resistant Heritage strains); and they feed their unfortunate victims high-protein, growthhormone-enhanced feed so that they pump out an egg a day or reach market size in as little as six weeks. The result: a bountiful supply of cheap, essentially tasteless, hormone- and antibiotic-laced eggs or meat produced at the cost of the birds’ health and well-being.
Heritage Chickens
Fortunately, growing legions of poultry fanciers and small-scale chicken-raisers are stepping forth to reclaim our forebears’ poultry breeds. This rare-breed renaissance is occurring throughout the world for numerous reasons.
Some conservators long for the mouthwatering fried chicken Grandma used to serve for Sunday dinner or for yummy, orange-yoked eggs with divine flavor. Some yearn to preserve living remnants of our distant past. Others do it in the name of biodiversity — they feel that if disease or genetic malady should strike down America’s beleaguered battery hens and broilers, there must be hardy Heritage breeds ready to take up the slack. Some simply prefer
Of the 70-some breeds currently maintained by American poultry breeders, half are endangered and 13 are practically extinct.
breeds created for specific environments and needs, such as Buckeyes and Hollands for freerange eggs, Chanteclers for winter laying in the far North, or heat-tolerant Cubalayas for the steamy South.
Before you join them, get to know the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (or the rare-breeds conservancy in the country where you live). The ALBC is a nonprofit membership organization devoted to the promotion and protection of more than 150 breeds of livestock and poultry. In service since 1977, it’s the primary organization in the United States working to conserve rare breeds and genetic diversity in Heritage livestock. In 2009, the ALBC launched its Heritage-chicken promotion, and it’s eager to provide new Heritage breed producers, large and small, with materials to help get started and, later, to promote and market eggs and meat from their Heritage chickens.
Endangered Breeds
If you join the ALBC, you’ll receive the organization’s bimonthly print newsletter and an annual directory full of contacts. ALBC
breeders make up an active network of people who participate in hands-on conservation, marketing and public education; if you are getting into chicken keeping, particularly if you plan on raising, showing or breeding endangered breeds, they are definitely people you want to know.
How do you know which breeds fulfill these needs? Easy. Visit the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy website (albc-usa.org) and click on “Breed Information,” then click on “Chickens” under “Poultry Breeds.” This will bring you to the ALBC Conservation Priority List (CPL) for chickens, where breeds are categorized according to the following criteria as defined by the ALBC (on the website, you can click on the name of each breed to access pictures and information about it):
Critical: “Fewer than 500 breeding birds in the United States, with five or fewer primary breeding flocks (50 birds or more), and estimated global population less than 1,000.” Breeds in the Critical category in 2010 were the Buckeye, Campine, Chantecler, Crevecouer, Holland, Modern Game, Nankin, Redcap, Russian Orloff, Spanish, Sultan, Sumatra, and Yokohama.
Threatened: “Fewer than 1,000 breeding birds in the United States, with seven or fewer primary breeding flocks, and estimated global population less than 5,000.” Breeds in the “Threatened” category in 2010 were the Andalusian, Buttercup, Cubalaya, Delaware, Dorking, Faverolles, Java, Lakenvelder, Langshan, Malay, and Phoenix.
Watch: “Fewer than 5,000 breeding birds in the United States, with ten or fewer primary breeding flocks, and estimated global population less than 10,000. Also included are breeds with genetic or numerical concerns or limited geographic distribution.” Breeds in the “Watch” category in 2010 CPL were the Ancona, Aseel, Brahma, Catalana, Cochin, Cornish, Dominique, Hamburg, Houdan, Jersey Giant, La Fleche, Minorca, New Hampshire, Old English Game, Polish, Rhode Island White, Sebright, and Shamo.
Recovering: “Breeds that were once listed in another category and have exceeded Watch category numbers but are still in need of monitoring.” Breeds in the “Recovering” category in 2010 were the Australorp, nonindustrial Leghorn, Orpington, Plymouth Rock, non-industrial Rhode Island Red, Sussex and Wyandotte.
Study: “Breeds that are of interest but either lack definition or lack genetic or historical documentation.” Breeds in the “Study” category in 2010 were the Araucana, Iowa Blue, Lamona, Manx Rumpy and Naked Neck.
Buying Heritage Chickens
If you want to show your chickens or are very serious about conservation breeding, it’s better to buy from a reputable breeder than from most commercial hatcheries. Old-fashioned breeds from hatcheries can be fine birds, but they aren’t usually bred to exacting standards.
To locate established breeders, do an Internet search using your chosen breed’s name and the word breeder, download a free PDF directory of Heritage chicken breeders from the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy website, or scope out the ALBC classifieds online. And if you haven’t yet chosen a breed, download the ALBC’s sixpage “Guide to Rare Breeds of Chickens” PDF chart. It’s free and very helpful.
Sue Weaver has written hundreds of articles, including those for Hobby Farms magazine and Chickens magazine, and nine books about livestock and poultry. She lives on a small farm in Arkansas, where she cares for sheep, goats, horses and, of course, chickens.