Farming and Homesteading Heritage Poultry

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Yellow House Farm

Crowing
10 Years
Jun 22, 2009
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Barrington, NH
Greetings! Using Standard-bred heritage poultry as a basis for traditional food production is a passion of ours. With heritage fowl, there is an entire cycle of food production that fills the calendar with seasonality and surprise, which differs in outstanding fashion from the current hum-drum of same-old same-old that has replaced our traditional food supply since the rise of the chicken nugget.

It would be a pleasure to start a dialogue, in conjuction with the other fine threads in this section dedicated to heritage poultry, about the ins and outs of using Standard-bred poultry on the homestead.

This can be a place to share experience, ask questions, and work out solutions with regards to egg production, meat production, feather harvest, etc., all in relating back to the breeding efforts of an ever evolving homestead flock of heritage fowl and even waterfowl.
 
Great thread idea!

I like all the talk about heritage poultry lately, but I am a little disappointed that the entire focus on these various conversation seems to be on aesthetic conservation, which is all fine and good...but wouldn't more people jump on the bandwagon on some of these breeds if we worked on preserving and regaining the various breeds original utility functions?

The Houdan springs to mind as a very good example of this, I believe you once had them? Originally a very important dual-purpose breed, in the few places it seems to exist now it is practically strictly ornamental.

I think first making these breeds more desirable as a modern homestead bird would go farther than anything else in assuring their preservation.
 
This is true. Yes we did have Houdans. I miss them, too, but we have found that multiple breeds is very difficult to manage when one is focusing on all the various aspects of husbandry that are relevant to farming.

Houdans are e neat fowl. As to the "ornamental" notion. It seems that this is often said about many fowl for which ornament is not their purpose of origin. Recently I was on a website which was promoting the La Fleche as "strictly ornamental", which has nothing at all to do with the La Fleche reality--very white breast meat and strong egg production. They are in current need of being bred up for size, but this is certainly not insurmountable. For anyone desirous of returning to a traditional usage of heritage fowl in his or her cookery, both the Houdan and the La Fleche would be a good choice. One accepts from the start that the will be smaller at the start, but time goes quicker than we'd like to admit and five years have past in a blink and the stock will be greatly improved.

I think, also, that one text after another parrots what was read in the text before. Before long, we've developed all sorts of limiting myths, such as Anconas aren't good for meat or Old English Games are only for cockfighting.

Really, it's about a union between knowledge of cookery and the the best possibilities for each breed. It's a neat evolution that we have experienced and witnessed. Over time, one becomes estranged from the unnatural size of current crossbred industrial chickens. The more one works with one's flock in the barnyard and in the kitchen, the more one picks up their rhythm. After a while you forget that you ever ate supermarket chicken at all.
 
You're very right about "Parroting" on these threads. I find time and again that these internet forums perpetuate stereotypes and blanket statements without accounting for the vast differences between individual lines or strains within a breed.

That is very unfortunate. People need to have a better understanding of how different birds within the same breed can be, and learn which questions to ask in order to find out about the specific line they are looking to purchase.

Furthermore, those keeping the birds have a responsibility to know what they have if they choose to offer it for sale. They should be able to answer questions on weights, growth rates, egg laying, fertility, hardiness, etc. Being able to relay whether or not your birds are correctly laced or have the correct leg and ear lobe color is easy, the truly important stuff takes a little more effort!
 
Hello all,

I am one that is raising my chicken for our farm. My breeding is working towards the standard but not for show but for Production. So what I am doing is combining the APA standard with ALBC production selection guidelines. My chickens are free range and get no pampering other than fed daily in winter and a good farm dog to protect them. So what ever survives the year gets bred for the next year. Which right now is 13 that includes 2 cockerals.

I am looking forward to eating our first. One thing that sort of bothers me is that everyone seems to miss the point when it comes to growing heritage homestead chickens for meat and eggs. Everyone is so use to the store bought and can not understand the differance in cooking homegrown older than 8 weeks old. I think one of the best places to look for older chicken recipes is the French. They have some great ones for cooking chickens that are over a year old.



Furthermore, those keeping the birds have a responsibility to know what they have if they choose to offer it for sale. They should be able to answer questions on weights, growth rates, egg laying, fertility, hardiness, etc. Being able to relay whether or not your birds are correctly laced or have the correct leg and ear lobe color is easy, the truly important stuff takes a little more effort!

OK, how are you keeping records? I am going to be getting a program to help me. Are you weighing your chickens? If so what type of scale are you using? I need to get one for I wish to track adult weights. I did weigh my chicks as they grew the first year but not last since they were raised by adopted mom. So how is everyone ID their birds for record keeping.

This is great not a bred specific nor a show thread.
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I bought a scale at Harbor Freight for about $30. I can weigh my birds in a good size cardboard box and subtract the box. If the box weight 14 oz I add pennies or dimes in the box till it weight is 160z. Then subtract the one pound from the birds weight. I wing band my birds with a poultry wing band. It does not hurt the chick and I have a record number on their wing. Also, I use a toe punch so I punch a hole in the toe of the chick this tells me who the mother is.

I have small matings so I rotate my male from one small pen to another. This way I can tell which female is putting out the better chick from the male I am using. When chicks are young I have different colored magic markers. I put a black or green or red mark on their head. May put red on right black on left. Each chick has a 5x7 index card to log the data on it. I also, take pictures of my birds and study thier type. I also, take a video with leg band on thier legs then I can watch them on a small tv or lap top computer screedn to make notes on my index card I can ID these chicks this way till I wing band them or put a numbered band on their leg. Got to change the leg band as they grow so they don't cut off their circulation.

Hope this helps some. As a hardy bird I like the new Barred Rock out of Kansas for their taste and they are very pretty. I also, found some great Dominique's out of Ohio and New York. These are great chickens that lay well and they are the beginning of the Heritage list of old birds.

There is also the classic Rhode Island Reds in Rose Comb Single Comb and the bantam which I like to raise. Great tread started by a person who has old fashion chickens who is trying to educate people in his area. bob
 
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It is my belief a chicken should be a utility fowl, excepting ornamentals. They should please ones eye, and follow a standard for the breed, should that be one's goal. They need to fulfill their primary functions, and maintain a good disposition while doing it. I support this thread and I'm looking forward to learning a great deal from it.
 
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I like all the talk about heritage poultry lately, but I am a little disappointed that the entire focus on these various conversation seems to be on aesthetic conservation, which is all fine and good...but wouldn't more people jump on the bandwagon on some of these breeds if we worked on preserving and regaining the various breeds original utility functions?

This is EXACTLY what I'm talking about. How many folks actually have a breed or breed to the bird in the description of that breed? Not just lbs and good color I mean "a Delaware thats actually could be considered a "broiler"?" The New Hampshire that actually has meat on its frame and not an orange colored production bird that lays brown eggs? A barred rock that makes a good table bird? And no chicken and dumplings don't count.

That alone is tough enough to find anymore. The wing carriage may not be perfect, or they may have a few too many points, or the color or pattern may be off a bit so they are a cull. Thats fine, but at least meet the description of the breed. That alone seems hard enough to find anymore. Thats more then enough for many of us who want a homestead heritage bird. I know a number of folks who'd be happy with some smut patterned Delawares if the rest of the bird was up to par as far as size and rate of maturity goes. Seems like people get so hung up on the little things like leg color or points on a comb that they dont' realize that the dual purpose bird they are working with wouldn't make a good meal due to a lack of meat on the frame. But its got good pattern! Give me a break.

Its the perception. Until you've got a proper frame with good fleshing on it in a reasonable amount of time, color, comb points, leg color is meaningless. Too often I think we look for the identifying marks and not the whole bird, especially with regards to the heritage breeds. These were breeds that served a purpose, and until we return them to that status we're just grasping at straws.​
 

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