Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[Hangtown Farms]

If I were you I wouldn't get too anxious about adding a bunch of breeds. What these breeds need are people who are dedicated breeders, who can really focus and improve one or two breeds at a time. I would stick to your Sussex and Leghorns for now and get those up and going before you add anything else. If you have twenty different breeds and no time or space to devote to breeding quality then what good is having them? That's not adding quality birds to the whole population.
Really all the breeds on your list could use more breeders specifically Anconas and Dorkings and Javas. But as I said before focus more on quality rather than quantity
Having said that I just want to add that Orloffs and Penedescencas aren't recognized and can't be labeled as "heritage", however if these are breeds you like its no ones place to say you shouldn't breed them.
Just my suggestion.

correct. I know this is a heritage thread however Penedesenca are in serious need of more good and dedicated breeders.
The partridge are very flighty so they need to free range or a big run to be there happiest. My Crele are really mellow for a penedesenca

 

[mschlumb]

correct. I know this is a heritage thread however Penedesenca are in serious need of more good and dedicated breeders.
The partridge are very flighty so they need to free range or a big run to be there happiest. My Crele are really mellow for a penedesenca

Yeah, that's the one pitfall i guess, with the heritage label. It only covers breeds recognized by the mid-twentieth century, excluding breeds like Penedesencas and orloffs, which are in their own right in need of preservation and breeders. But then these breeds do represent the more important breeds which really developed the poultry industry in America and were common on family farms of the time. But i agree that newer imports represent even more genetic biodiversity and should have some sort of following.

 

[imtrying]

The reason you can't get the same Heritage breed, like the Buckeye, by recreating is because the "Foundation" Breeds have been crossed with breeds like leghorns. That is why it is important to keep the foundation breeds pure.

you get a gold star for being one of the smart ones.

boom.

 

[Pozees]

If I were you I wouldn't get too anxious about adding a bunch of breeds. What these breeds need are people who are dedicated breeders, who can really focus and improve one or two breeds at a time. I would stick to your Sussex and Leghorns for now and get those up and going before you add anything else. If you have twenty different breeds and no time or space to devote to breeding quality then what good is having them? That's not adding quality birds to the whole population.
Really all the breeds on your list could use more breeders specifically Anconas and Dorkings and Javas. But as I said before focus more on quality rather than quantity
Having said that I just want to add that Orloffs and Penedescencas aren't recognized and can't be labeled as "heritage", however if these are breeds you like its no ones place to say you shouldn't breed them.
Just my suggestion.

Point well made. I am not really anxious to have twenty breeds, and plan to stick with the SS and Leghorns for the next couple of years, possibly all my remaining years.

I guess my point was that some readers don't have one or two breeds they are glued to, just a general sense of needing a purpose and are seeking some guidance, and also that even if we focus on one or two breeds regarding learning to make our own decisions, we might have time/room for one or two others we can house and husband in which we have zero expertise, but are willing/happy to listen to someone else tell us what to do with them strictly in order to help perpetuate them. If I'm reading right here, there are some breeders who would do more matings if they had the space and time, who might benefit from partnering with those who have a general sense they want to not just *keep* LF Heritage Breeds, but play a role in perpetuating broader genetic availability as well as popularizing the breed - offering the culls for sale to neighbors for their laying flocks or freezer flocks, etc. Many have made the point that they can only keep so many birds, can only follow so many selections of their lines, knowing they might be leaving traits on the cutting floor, as it were, which down the road they might want to bring back into the primary line.

wsmith and I are fairly close neighbors, and I've already told him I hope to bring some of his culled pullets into my laying flock; should there be a time in the near or distant future that he needs some back, I'm near enough to make it easy to try and recapture something he needs. If he needs me to take his #3 cockerel and hold him, I am likely to be able to do so. I'm not a person of means, and just getting a restart in chickens after many years, I guess all I'm saying is that many of us are willing to help broaden breeding programs of breeds in need if you will all just tell us where we can be of the most help. Certainly many have favorite breeds, but I believe as many just want to help preserve those breeds we can while feeding our families and regaining our sense of sustaining that which has nearly been lost.

 

[mschlumb]

The reason you can't get the same Heritage breed, like the Buckeye, by recreating is because the "Foundation" Breeds have been crossed with breeds like leghorns. That is why it is important to keep the foundation breeds pure.

But wouldn't you get a bird that looked very similar to the "composite" breed, that performed the traditional purpose of the breed? Like the Delaware, a few breeders have recreated it using Barred Rocks and New Hampshires. So are they not Delawares? Or are Rocks and New Hamps not considered "foundation" breeds?

 

[mschlumb]

Point well made. I am not really anxious to have twenty breeds, and plan to stick with the SS and Leghorns for the next couple of years, possibly all my remaining years.

I guess my point was that some readers don't have one or two breeds they are glued to, just a general sense of needing a purpose and are seeking some guidance, and also that even if we focus on one or two breeds regarding learning to make our own decisions, we might have time/room for one or two others we can house and husband in which we have zero expertise, but are willing/happy to listen to someone else tell us what to do with them strictly in order to help perpetuate them. If I'm reading right here, there are some breeders who would do more matings if they had the space and time, who might benefit from partnering with those who have a general sense they want to not just *keep* LF Heritage Breeds, but play a role in perpetuating broader genetic availability as well as popularizing the breed - offering the culls for sale to neighbors for their laying flocks or freezer flocks, etc. Many have made the point that they can only keep so many birds, can only follow so many selections of their lines, knowing they might be leaving traits on the cutting floor, as it were, which down the road they might want to bring back into the primary line.

wsmith and I are fairly close neighbors, and I've already told him I hope to bring some of his culled pullets into my laying flock; should there be a time in the near or distant future that he needs some back, I'm near enough to make it easy to try and recapture something he needs. If he needs me to take his #3 cockerel and hold him, I am likely to be able to do so. I'm not a person of means, and just getting a restart in chickens after many years, I guess all I'm saying is that many of us are willing to help broaden breeding programs of breeds in need if you will all just tell us where we can be of the most help. Certainly many have favorite breeds, but I believe as many just want to help preserve those breeds we can while feeding our families and regaining our sense of sustaining that which has nearly been lost.

Glad to hear that! I see your point, that's a good idea especially if you have a close neighbor who knows what they are doing and can help perpetuate a good flock.

 

[Fred's Hens]

E L Morse New Hampshire one of his two pullets. Notice the finish on this female.

This I like.

 

[Pozees]

what flavor penedesenca do you want ?

What is in the greatest need? I have read they can be tricky because they like to roost in trees and are a bit on the wild side, and confess that appeals to me I live on the prairie, so there aren't that many trees in the vicinity. One of the things I like about Leghorns is their "flightiness" which here translates to predator awareness. I do keep my birds within enclosed runs protected by electric fence the four days a week I am required to be gone virtually all daylight hours this time of the year, but the other three days they are let loose at sunup and return to the coop at sundown of their own accord. I find the Penedesencas most intriguing - the first thing I read about them was that they were "difficult" and not for beginners, and was hooked immediately LOL. Tell me more!

 

[imtrying]

This I like.

x2

 

[Hangtown Farms]

What is in the greatest need? I have read they can be tricky because they like to roost in trees and are a bit on the wild side, and confess that appeals to me I live on the prairie, so there aren't that many trees in the vicinity. One of the things I like about Leghorns is their "flightiness" which here translates to predator awareness. I do keep my birds within enclosed runs protected by electric fence the four days a week I am required to be gone virtually all daylight hours this time of the year, but the other three days they are let loose at sunup and return to the coop at sundown of their own accord. I find the Penedesencas most intriguing - the first thing I read about them was that they were "difficult" and not for beginners, and was hooked immediately LOL. Tell me more!

Partridge and wheaten are the most common. Good black are hard to find. Crele nearly impossible and white empordanesa are the rarest I think. they are all alert and good protectors. Great free rangers though with predators you may loose roosters as they will protect there hens. Penedesenca do not roost in trees like icelandic's though they will get in them but my icelandic's love to get in the trees. Partridge and wheaten lay the darkest eggs but are the most flighty. Wheaten will blend in with your grassland setting.