Historical Breeds

[Junkmanme]

IF my reading of HISTORY is correct, the FIRST chickens brought by the colonists from England were brought to Jamestown, Virginia.

THERE they were raised and bred with the SOLE purpose of making them as BIG and TASTY as the native Turkeys.

This project was a FAILURE (insofar as the chicken-breeding was concerned.).

BECAUSE of this "failure", the ORIGINAL CHICKEN BREED was called:

SOUTHERN FRIED CHICKEN

This nomenclature was later modified by a "Colonel Sanders"...and is NOW referred to as : Kentucky Fried Chicken.

hope this helps,
-Junkmanme-

 

[joletabey]

 

[The Chicken Lady]

Funny, but off-topic... Please stay on topic, folks.

 

[patandchickens]

Yup, just cuz a breed has the same name now as 200 yrs ago does not mean the actual chickens bear much resemblance.

Some breeds of livestock have drifted *massively* from their historical state. Most have drifted a fair bit. Few have escaped it altogether.

So historical research is all well and good, and a perfectly fine end in and of itself.... but if one is shopping for chickens, you gotta remember that just because (for instance) the colonists had Dominiques and fifty years ago Delawares were developed as commercial broilers does not mean that *today's* Dominiques are especially outstanding foragers or layers, or that *today's* Delawares are anything like as broiler-type as the originals.

Pat

 

[saladin]

For breeds that would have been on the early ships to America (1635-1750). (It is important to remember that breeds as such (excepting Games) were not generally named as we have them today.

There would have been no Javas. They came later.

You would have seen Irish and Old English Games. Nothing of the sort even called American Games at the point in history you are speaking about. Dorkings yes and the ancestors of the Amer. Dominque. You might have even had something that was similar to the Sussex.

To the south where there was Spanish influence (remember the Spanish/Portugese beat the British here): you would have seen Spanish Games and Spanish White Face.

As a matter of fact, of the non-Game types it is believed that the Spanish White Face was the first breed to come to the Americas.

saladin