I disagree with the idea that we already have enough breeds. Breeds are created by humans to fill a certain need. Most of the breeds we have now seem to me to fit into one of these 4 catagories:
1. Pure production birds. Examples: Commercial white leghorns, cornish cross, production red. Focus is on production, not personality or looks.
2. Old Time farm birds. Examples are Barred Rocks, RIR, many many others. Focus is on a bird that can lay eggs but also be eaten, can forage pretty well, decent personality, often can raise its own young. These breeds are often what I would call "handsome" but not exactly "pretty"....(I do realize that beauty is in the eye of the beholder).
3. Fancy Birds. Focus is on beauty (although some of these breeds are derived from more practical birds, and of course any chicken lays at least a few eggs, and any chicken *can* be eaten ). Examples: Cochin, silkie, true bantams etc.
4. Sport Birds (Game breeds).
It seems to me that there is a new demand for a new catagory that has been created because of the recent trend of backyard chickens/ pet chickens:
5. Backyard Birds
Chickens in this new catagory would be kept for laying, not meat. They should look very nice, or at least look very interesting. They must have good personalities. They must lay pretty well although production is not the very top focus. A beautiful or unique egg is a big plus. Being sexable at birth is a plus because most backyard owners do not keep roosters. They do not need to go broody. They should be able to live in the northern as well as the southern states. They must be readily available...not something you have to search all over to get ahold of. They should have a name that is attractive and not "in dispute" (I think that I speak for a lot of backyarders when I saw that the whole EE/Ameraucana/Americana/Araucana cat fight has been a HUGE turnoff).
Easter eggers, Ameraucanas, Welsummers and Cukoo Marans each meet some of these criteria, but not all.
I think that in England, they have more choices aimed at this market: the Speckeldy, Fenton Blues etc. I wish we had more breeds like this in the States. Here are some examples of breeds I think we need:
A. An Olive Egger breed. I have heard someone say they would name them Olivias. If I could create Olivias they would be a barred, autosexing olive egg laying bird with muffs, beards and a pea comb.
B. A calm, beautiful white egg layer. Right now about our only choices are the Barred Holland and Dorking, both of which are hard to find and often end up laying a light tan, not white egg. Hey, how about something Blue/Black/Splash! Wouldn't that be cool? Maybe something based on the Blue Andalusian but not flighty and prone to frost-bite.
C. Something that reliably lays those eggs with a pink or plum blush that I see posted every once in awhile. Cool!
What do you all think?
