Best recession/depression chicken breed(s)?

[ranlan]

I have been reading this post off and on and my thought is why not read what people in the depression did with their chickens. I have old farming books and they explain poultry keeping during that time period. 1) Pick a breed that you like 2) Learn about husbandry and how that fits into the situation you are in 3) Become the best breeder that you can be to improve the breed that you decide on. My family raised poultry during the depression, all of their neighbors raised poultry and were acquainted with white leghorns, brown leghors, RIR, Rocks, Hamburgs, Anconas and Old English Game. Just pick a breed that you like, work on improving it and the genetics you develop will fit into your production system! Just my humble opinion.

 

[gootziecat]

Excellent suggestion, Ranlan.

 

[Chickielady]

I have been reading this post off and on and my thought is why not read what people in the depression did with their chickens. I have old farming books and they explain poultry keeping during that time period. 1) Pick a breed that you like 2) Learn about husbandry and how that fits into the situation you are in 3) Become the best breeder that you can be to improve the breed that you decide on. My family raised poultry during the depression, all of their neighbors raised poultry and were acquainted with white leghorns, brown leghors, RIR, Rocks, Hamburgs, Anconas and Old English Game. Just pick a breed that you like, work on improving it and the genetics you develop will fit into your production system! Just my humble opinion.

X2 which brings me to my addition of why Buckeyes became what they are.
This bird is so fascinated by forage, not much into feed as long as they can range.
They forage well, stay close to home, are protective of each other and brood extremely well.
They also lay year round, where quite a few of my others have not.
The Bucks, true to their breeding, are a stocky & thick tender bird for the table, having a very large breast & carcass even in an old bird for stewing.
Their stunning fine temperment is legendary, and their beauty beyond that.
If I had only to have 1 breed, it would be a hard choice between my Black javas & Buckeyes.
But as msMetcalf did was raise a bird to put on the table.
A bird that could fend for itself..........
And she did

Javas for years were the #1 source of meat chicken here in the USA....
I would still go with Buckeyes for an all around best bird.
They can eat anything & prefer anything to feed.
I really love the birds, have eggs in the incubator fertile in January due to the pea combs, the cocks are still fertile where as standard comb birds are not.
can find nothing wrong with this absolutely beautiful & wonderfully dispositioned bird !
They are hardy in cold weather, and still fertile, have a big carcass, and cockerels not used for breeding go right in the butcher pen.
Hens are loving Mothers...there is no cons to this breed !

 

[lucky123]

I would say millions would disagree with you that had chickens during the depression. My grandparents had chickens and they took care of themselfs minus some cracked corn that they raised themselfs. So, many people had chickens at no cost during the depression. My other grandparents would buy chicks in the spring, brood them by the wood stove, and cost them nothing else except grains they raised themselfs. If they would have cost more to raise then they would have paid at the store they wouldn't have had them. I think you will get many opinions on the best dual purpose bird, but in many hatchery stock they are to small to be a true dual purpose bird.

 

[speckledhen]

X2 which brings me to my addition of why Buckeyes became what they are.
This bird is so fascinated by forage, not much into feed as long as they can range.
They forage well, stay close to home, are protective of each other and brood extremely well.
They also lay year round, where quite a few of my others have not.
The Bucks, true to their breeding, are a stocky & thick tender bird for the table, having a very large breast & carcass even in an old bird for stewing.
Their stunning fine temperment is legendary, and their beauty beyond that.
If I had only to have 1 breed, it would be a hard choice between my Black javas & Buckeyes.
But as msMetcalf did was raise a bird to put on the table.
A bird that could fend for itself..........
And she did

Javas for years were the #1 source of meat chicken here in the USA....
I would still go with Buckeyes for an all around best bird.
They can eat anything & prefer anything to feed.
I really love the birds, have eggs in the incubator fertile in January due to the pea combs, the cocks are still fertile where as standard comb birds are not.
can find nothing wrong with this absolutely beautiful & wonderfully dispositioned bird !
They are hardy in cold weather, and still fertile, have a big carcass, and cockerels not used for breeding go right in the butcher pen.
Hens are loving Mothers...there is no cons to this breed !

Wow, what a glowing endorsement! You about have me convinced on Buckeyes, not that I haven't heard most of this before, but the way you put it just really hit home. There is something about a bird that is an active forager that really suits me. It's why I love my BRs and Delawares, but I always worry about the combs in winter-even though I'm in GA, I'm in the mtns at 2000 ft elevation and we get into the single digits at times in winter.

 

[GhostRider65]

Really SpeckledHen don't worry about it so much, most of my birds are single comb.. here in Wis. we get weeks of 30 to 60 below, with winds that can approach -80, all the birds I see mine and my neighbors are for the most part frost free........... I did see 1 rooster out of 20 that might have a little on his wattles that got wet in the drinking bowl,, as long as they have shelter and some ventilation, the cold doesn't seem to boither them too much, I ran my heat lamp 2 days this winter when it was -25 and they didn't even go under it, except the naked backed nellie hen, and that was not for long, mostly I just wasted electricity for nothing.............. Kim
Personally I haven't yet had a Buckeye, but my Dels, and BR, and SS forage best, the dels make the best table size bird along with the Rocks, the SS are smaller but lay great........... and could be eaten though not as much meat per bird. I did keep a very large SS rooster, for this years breeding , and I will try to get some size back in the stock I have, they are the friendliest little things and love to talk, they are always yackity yacking at you whenever you come outside, they come running............ and I totally love spots.....LOL Kim

 

[speckledhen]

I agree about the foraging abilities of BRs and Delawares, for sure! My coops are draft free, but with good high-up ventilation. So far, no real frostbite issues, but I'm always worried when temps go way down in winter. Guess I may be worried for nothing, but the Buckeyes may be a breed for me in the future when my overall numbers are less and I need to rebuild.

 

[GhostRider65]

I think if all that has been posted about them is true of the breed and not just that specific chicken flock......... they are very well worth considering, I may add a few next year just to see how they compare, or if I should run across some at a swap or something this year will see...... I already have a few irons in the fire for my flock this season, but ya never know.......... the chicken bug sometimes removes all reason. and all sense.............. hehehe

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

I am one of the many followers of this thread. Last year I thought about making my own breed but some things came up and I moved from there and came back home. If I had to pick just one breed for all of this, it would be the sumatra. We have a pair of sumatra bantams that are going on 10 years old this year and still going strong. They are great foragers, in the summer we don't really have to feed them because they are always out in the fields eating seeds and bugs, scratching in the berry patches, wandering around the upper part of the property. They are good layers despite what others say, we get about 150 eggs a year per hen and they are a breed that doesn't have a drastic reduction of production after the first year or two, more consistent than other breeds. As far as meat goes, they produce a decent sized carcass when dressed out.
Sumatras have got to be one of the best breeds when it comes to predators, they always alert the flock when anything strange is near whether it be a sparrow hawk or a skunk. We had a broody sumatra hen a couple years back risk her own life to protect her chicks. There was a neighbors dog down in the yard that killed a couple birds and was after her and her chicks. She made the alarm to her chicks so they hunkered down and she chased the dog and put a few good holes in its face and tore an ear before I was able to get out there.
Another breed I like based one on old rooster is the araucanas. We bred white, black, blue, BBR araucanas ages ago. There was one white tufted rumpless cockerel who got loose and vanished into the woods. He was the only bird that had a yelp style crow that we've had. He got loose when we were sorting birds and knew right where he was heading too. Since he was pure white, it was almost gauranteed that he would be taken by a predator. Well year after year he made it out there, we would catch a glimpse of him as he was flying from a tree or running through the brush or we would hear his weird crow. Finally after about 4 years of being feral in the woods he started to come around the chicken yard again. After he came a few times we decided to try to trap him and he always escaped until one day he got stuck in the trap and we ran out right away. By then we had sold off all the other araucanas so he was taken to a traders place. A few years later we were at his place again and I heard that distinctive yelp crow and saw the rooster in a pen. I went over and saw the legband that confirmed it was him. The trader always has folks out there buying birds to eat and everything and I was surprised he was still alive. So if all of them were like that rooster, I would love to have a whole flock of them. We never really let any of the other araucanas free range just because we didn't want anything to happen to them. He lived for 4 years in the woods off of who knows what. We don't have any water back there so I have no clue how he stayed hydrated. The winters we have snow so he must have eaten snow but for food I really don't know.

If anything, I would like to have a mixed flock. I would start out with some dual purpose American breeds too but would go more for the easter eggers, araucanas, sumatras, the more gamey/feral style birds.

 

[Illia]

Seriously agreed -

My Araucanas are the toughest, smartest, hardiest, and most "slippery" of all the breeds I've known. I discuss with my family on and off, if civilization fell, what we'd do about the chickens, and my reply is always that I'd probably have to let natural selection take its course but honestly I think the Araucanas and some Polish crosses (but not pure) would be the serious winners on the farm. Both require small feed intake, are super foragers, super fliers, super runners, very smart, lay great, and both have had their experiences lost in the woods or running loose on the farm and never getting eaten. I've even had a raccoon steal two birds, tried taking a third, from my coop and all but the Araucanas were either injured, stolen, or pretty battered looking. My only hen who insists on living life her own way, eating what she wants, sleeping where she wants, going broody where she wants, strolling around where she wants - Is an Araucana. She's been perfectly healthy that way for 2 years now. I try my best to pen her up but she's a serious escape artist.

And of course, I know not everyone likes rumpless birds but that lack of tail has saved my birds time and time again, plus, if with the right body-type (not so short or flat of a back) they aren't that hard to get good fertility from. If I let an Araucana male run around a mixed flock of hens he does his job just as well as a tailed one would. If he runs around a flock of Araucanas, he'd do his job a little worse but not to the point that I'd want to get rid of them, no!


Agreed on the gamey part too. I've never own any gamey type birds except Shamos, which aren't what I mean though, but, when you look at poor villages, feral chickens, etc, - You notice a gamey pattern. After all, Junglefowl are the closest resemblance both in temperament and type.


ETA - Last note to add, I know people love the idea of American Class breeds and those beefy dual purpose types, such example as my Marans and Sussex, but - Mine, at least, eat more per bodily ratio, and aren't the best at escaping ground-based predators. When raccoons have a chance at trying to steal my birds, they always take the big ones first and with success. Then they take the EE's and usually the EE's get away but slightly battered. After that, they never seem to have success with smaller breeds. Araucanas even by the SOP are quite small, but are actually very meaty as even described in the SOP's "economic qualities" section for their size. That's one of those many things I love about them.

Extra edit - I will lastly say though that of the breeds I've had, nothing beats a Shamo when it comes to foraging. Never had Old English or American or other Oriental type games but I'd imagine them just as good, as, nothing beat my Shamos. Always waay out there in the pasture or woods, always had the darkest egg yolks, always found the most out of even the most barren/winter beaten environment.