Description and photos of heritage breeds: https://livestockconservancy.org/heritage-breeds/conservation-priority-list/
CHICKENS
Interest in traditional or “Heritage” breeds of poultry has been on the rise as farmers look toward animals that can thrive outdoors and on pasture. Although many are superb for these environments, they are also slower growing and take much longer to get to market weight and will produce fewer eggs than commercial strains of birds. In this workshop we will discuss the perks and challenges producers will face, and how to take advantage of other income streams from your flock that can be generated beyond eggs or meat.
The guest presenter is Jeannette Beranger, Senior Program Manager at The Livestock Conservancy. Jeannette has 30+ years’ experience working as an animal professional in zoological and non-profit institutions. She is an active lecturer, writer, and photographer and is co-author on the best-selling books An Introduction to Heritage Breeds and Managing Breeds for a Secure Future. Recently Jeannette was named one of Country Women Magazine’s “45 Amazing Country Woman” for her work in conserving endangered breeds. At home she practices what she preaches and maintains a heritage breeds farm with a focus on critically endangered Crèvecœur chicken. [November 2, 2021]
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Powerpoint presentation
What are your production needs?
•Eggs only?
•Meat from non layers?
•Dual purpose breed?
•Maintain a breeding flock?
•Natural or artificial incubation?
Choose an Enterprise Model That Works for You
Competitive – enterprise competes for resources (land, labor, money) with existing farm ventures
Complementary – enterprise adds to another when resources are limited
Supplementary- enterprise does not compete or add to another
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Example: Rhode Island White (Threatened status)
FB group: https://www.facebook.com/Rhode-island-white-Rhode-island-red-RIR-200299900660258/
The Rhode Island White originated in 1888 through the efforts of J. Alonzo Jocoy of Peacedale, Rhode Island. He developed the breed by crossing White Wyandottes with Partridge Cochins and Rose Comb White Leghorns.
In 1903, Mr. Jocoy publicly revealed the breed and offered individuals for sale. They continued to be developed and improved so that it more closely resembled the Rhode Island Red’s brick-like body shape. This distinctive shape helped to prevent the breed from looking similar to and being confused with White Wyandottes or White Plymouth Rock chickens. In 1922, the Rhode Island White was admitted to the American Poultry Association’s Standard of Perfection during the national conference in Knoxville, Tennessee. The breed gained some popularity in the U.S. until the 1960s when their numbers began to decline. The breed never came close to the overwhelming popularity that the Rhode Island Red chicken achieved.
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Example: Buckeye
Buckeye chickens are uniquely American, and they make wonderful dual-purpose (good for both meat and eggs) birds. They are the only American chicken bred by a woman and were bred specifically to thrive under harsh conditions. This makes them exceptional chickens for backyards, homesteads, and breeders alike.
Bramblestone Farm, we keep both Golden Buff and Buckeye chickens, and people often ask why we keep the Buckeyes. They don’t lay as large an egg or as frequently as the Golden Buffs, so why do we keep them?
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DUCKS
The Campbell duck is a lightweight bird that weighs around 4 to 4.5 pounds. They’re active, streamlined birds with a modestly long head, bill, neck, and body, and a sprightly body carriage of 20 to 40 degrees above horizontal (Holderread, 2001). There are four color varieties in North America: Khaki, White, Dark, and Pied, with Khaki being the only one recognized by the APA.
The Khaki drake has a green bill, rich dark-orange legs and feet, and dark brown eyes. Its head, upper neck, lower back, and tail culverts are brown-bronze while the rest of the drake’s plumage is a warm khaki. The Khaki duck has a green bill and dark brown eyes and its legs and feet are brown. The duck’s head, upper neck, and lower back are seal-brown and the rest of the plumage is khaki. Dark Campbells, developed in Europe in an attempt to provide sex linkage, are a darker version of the Khaki. The White Campbell, bred as a “sport” variety, is pure white with vivid orange legs, feet, and bill. (Batty, 1985) The Pied has fawn plumage.
Campbells are prolific layers and active foragers. Most lay their first eggs when 5 to 7 months old and will average 250 to 340 eggs of superb texture and flavor per year. With an age staggered flock, one may have eggs year-round. Campbells are high-strung and energetic, and need plenty of space to graze and forage. (Ives, 1947)
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GEESE
FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CottonPatchGooseBreeders
Once commonplace on farms in the southeastern United States, the Cotton Patch goose gets its name from the tasks it performed. These geese would weed cotton and corn fields up until the 1950s. Cotton Patches are remembered in the rural south for helping many farmers and their families survive the Great Depression by providing a regular source of meat, eggs, and grease.
The breed’s beginnings aren’t clear but it’s thought to have descended from European stock brought to the U.S. during the colonial period. Cotton Patch geese possess many qualities in common with other sex-linked European breeds such as the Shetland, West of England, and Normandy geese.
However, these breeds are recent importations to North America and haven’t played a role in the development of the Cotton Patch goose. The Cotton Patch goose is the remaining relic of a little-known American breed of goose with parent stock that probably shares common ancestors with these other sex-linked geese. Cotton Patches differ from other sex-linked goose breeds by having pink or orange-pink bills, lightweight bodies, and the ability to fly.
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TURKEYS
Bronze-type turkeys were known by the late 1700s, but the name “Bronze” did not formally appear until the 1830s. Throughout the 1800s, breeders standardized the Bronze, and occasional crosses were made back to the wild turkey. The Bronze variety was recognized by the American Poultry Association in 1874.
The status of this variety has changed dramatically during the past century. In the early 1900s, a broader breasted Bronze turkey was introduced from England into Canada, and then into the northwestern United States. These were crossed with larger, faster-growing U.S. stocks, and the resulting bird, the Broad Breasted Bronze, became the commercial variety of choice. Further selection improved meat production, especially that of breast meat, growth rate, and other performance qualities. At the same time, changes in conformation, especially the shortening of the legs and the keel, nearly eliminated their ability to mate naturally. For this reason, most Broad Breasted Bronze turkeys have been artificially inseminated since the 1960s. Beginning in the 1960s the Broad Breasted Bronze was replaced by the Broad Breasted White turkey. Processors favored the white-feathered variety because it produced a cleaner-looking carcass. Today, the Broad Breasted Bronze is no longer used by the turkey industry, but it is promoted for seasonal, small-scale production.
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