This was really cool. Other than pigeons, I've raised all of these at one time or another and my experiences have been much the same. As far as chickens go, I'd pick the Rhode Island Red, New Hampshire Red and the Plymouth Rock as top utility type breeds, plus attractiveness. For less practical but pretty, I'd go with cochins or polish. Not as crazy about the hybrids because they aren't sustainable. As far as ducks go, the Rouen and the Blue Swede are my favorites, and Muscovies are very practical. As far as geese, the American Buff is my choice, hands down. Calm, pretty, excellent setters and mothers. One of the biggest advantages of (at least adult) geese is that they are too big for most hawks to bother with. A good strong fence provides protection from dogs and the like but it's so hard to stop an aerial attack. The only breed that I don't like are the Chinese, they can be mean (especially to other birds). I've only raised broad breasted bronzes and whites and if you have only a few, it's hard at slaughtering time because you do indeed become attached to them for their "goofiness". But like broiler chickens, they are not sustainable to keep because they get so large and the toms anyway cannot breed. My experience with guineas has been much the same. The adults are tough, hardy birds, but the keets are rather fragile. I've had the best luck incubating the eggs and raising the keets in a brooder. If you don't have a lot of room, Coturnix are great. You need the right equipment and the right-size feeders, waters, etc., but they are very easy to raise. Bobwhite on the other hand I found quite difficult to raise. The only pheasants I've ever raised were ringnecks. Other than the fact that the cock birds get very aggressive (to other cock birds) when they are breeding age, I never found them to be that much more difficult to raise than chickens or turkeys. But if you want a very practical small livestock species to raise for meat and maybe eggs too, you really can't beat ducks if you have enough room. They are friendly, hardy, non-demanding, largely disease and parasite-free, and you get a much better meat bird than you do with a chicken. And if noise is an issue, Muscovies are practically mute. Even with a large breed chicken (other than a broiler), most of the weight is bone, especially the breast. If you have pasture, then I'd pick geese. If space is limited, then Coturnix.
Different people with different types of Poultry
- Author The Duck Ladie
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- Article read time 34 min read
