Chickens from Virginia

[fyrftr4rd]

I am looking for what breeds of chickens thrive in Virginia vs. other breeds. Ay feedback would be appreciated. I would be interested to know what breed of chickens Thomas Jefferson had at Monticello.

 

[Michael OShay]

It depends on what your goals are regarding your chickens. Do you want them primarily for eggs or meat, or do you want dual purpose chickens? Or are you interested in breeding showbirds? Do you want docile chickens that will make good pets? Murray McMurray Hatchery has an excellent Chick Selector program at http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/chick_selector.html Just click on "show more characteristics and it will help you select the type of chickens you are interested in. Thomas Jefferson had bantams (I don't know which breed) at Monticello.

 

[Laingcroft]

Many breeds do well in Virginia. As previous post indicates it all depends on what you want.

As for Jefferson his farms probably had Dominique for eggs & meat and possibly some french breeds as he was a Francophile. There is documentation he raised bantams and my guess is they were games of some variety. Game Bantams were very popular in that Era and earlier when cockfighting was an acceptable thing. Here is a link to the Monticello archive personal papers re: the bantams. Www.monticello.org/site/plantation-and-slavery/poultry

We raise the breeds listed in my signature. Just substitute Dominique for Basques. We're near Richmond. Website is in my profile if you want to see what the breeds look like. There is an active poultry community in the State. Importing can be a hassle though.