Farming and Homesteading Heritage Poultry

[KenK]

I've mainly heard the term dunghill in these parts to describe not very game gamefowl.

 

[vnsseed]

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Here is a good basic article explaining the dunghill fowl:

http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/winter09/hens.cfm

 

[Yellow House Farm]

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Hi KenK, by that do you mean gamefowl with no game? I think this is how "bantams" began--game culls that were left to do as the pleased. Throw in a couple of this and that that so and so had for a few eggs, and there you go. I had a "NH bantam" hen with mille fleur pattern, another ginger red hen with 5-toes, another (my childhood favorite) mottled like a Java. There were lots of duckwing patterns, some whites, some blacks. They were all more or less the same size. THey tended toward fanned tails in the females. All the cocks had a proper European tail. I think that this is actually a really important point, I never saw a bantam with an Asian tail---ever. Moreover, eggs were white or tinted, no browns. I can't remember earlobes.

I think you're right, vnsseed, I think that there would be a various mix depending on the area.

I'm certainly not saying that this idea of bantams being dunghill fowl is right, but it's the only think that makes sense to me. It also jives with poultry history. Even the hens I've mentioned above go along with Vnssed's idea of the Dorking being part of the mix, a Java influence would also be appropriate. But cockfighting what prevalent among fowl people up until the 80's around here. It would make clear sense that games were part of, if they didn't dominate, the mix.

The notion of dunghill fowl is so prevalent in early lit that I wouldn't think that they'd go extinct, and the mode of husbandry afforded bantams was so in keeping with the idea of the dunghill fowl that I could more easily imagine a shift in nomenclature as opposed to a shift in actualy fowl. This would also mean that, if it's simply a nomenclatural shift, then there is a real possibility that there are still some extant flocks in the state, which would be rather cool, for I am of the impression that bantams always were,as long as there were NH homesteads.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Quoting from vnsseeds article:

"Farmers and the poor let chickens roam. Referred to as “dung hill” chickens, these birds often could be found on a manure pile, pecking for insects. The rich, however, liked to keep their birds in a building, especially if they had a manicured garden."


This is my exact point. If, in looking reading down the article, you follow the chickens they show in the photos, you see the beginning of bantams. The ginger red hen I mentioned was a bigger-than-nankin nankin hen with 5 toes. The first photo is a game because they were ubiquitous, then you add the expected farm fowls of the time and bada bing. Some bantams even had tassles, betraying, the presence of crested breeds. However, there were no frizzles or silkies, but that would make sense. Bantams were asked to be self sufficient, which these two types could never be. Had they ever been present, any offspring containing their genes, at least phenotypically, would have been doomed.

This quote reiterates my idea that dunghill was more of a husbandry statement than a breed demarcator, and bantams are the only thing I think they could have been to be as common as they were.

 

[vnsseed]

Yellow House Farm,

Interesting point on the bantams. When I get home I am going to look at some of the archaeology reports and see if they give size to the bone finds, that might tell us if they were bantams, by todays standards. I hadn't really thought about looking at the size of bone fragments until now.... see I knew I could get some good insight from this thread.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

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Very cool! But remember, when I say "bantams" I'm not refering to something like an ABA-style bantam. "Bantam" is the name for the semi-feral chickens that were in so many barns across the region. They were called bantams, but they were more like a game or a leghorn in size.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

PS: If I'm right we could try to launch a search for any old school flocks. As compatriots we might find some, especially in the northern and western parts of the state.

 

[vnsseed]

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Really? OK, so that gives me something to go on. I'll keep you posted.

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

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I just want to reiterate this point. The fear of "inbreeding" is still running rampant, and I feel it's to the detriment of the breeds.

Correct "inbreeding" and line breeding is the true breeder's most valuable tool to set type and various other traits, including health and vigor.

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

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I personally like leg bands because observing the birds moving and their daily habits and personalities is important to my selection. I like to take mental notes on which ones dominate the pen, which ones are bullies or protective, which ones have that "extra sparkle" in their bearing and composure.

Also, think of it this way...handling the birds more frequently to change out leg bands means you are actually putting your HANDS on them to feel what's going on in development under those feathers. If selecting towards a somewhat earlier maturity (we're not talking CX here, folks, just not a six month grow out!) then the more frequent handling could be very valuable.

Of course, that becomes impractical with larger scale operations, but perhaps it could be considered in planning how many birds you can manage at a time.