Not much into purebreds myself but totally appreciate the sentiment and necessity of retaining them. If I were going to try to preserve something heritage I'd look into what's most in need yet still closest to suiting my needs, though personally, I'd probably not attempt to use them as utilitarian livestock while working to preserve the rarest breeds. You'd need to test taste for quality, lol, but keeping a very rare breed for eggs or meat more than breeding would be an issue in terms of conservation. If it's very rare every good egg should be brooded, not eaten, same for every good bird of a rare breed.
So if you want to work on restoring and preserving them as well as eat their eggs or meat you may be better off getting one of the least endangered breeds.
No matter what rare breed you get, the supposed laying ratio can be completely not as described, as it varies greatly between family strains and breeders, and many of the old breeds are in a period of being rebuilt back to their former glory.
Barnevelders and Silver Dorkings used to be good layers last I heard, RIRs too, Orpingtons, Faverolles, etc... There's a few to choose from but you may be better off keeping hybrids for eggs and working on a heritage breed to restore it to previous laying capacity as many of the modern descendents are much poorer layers than their progenitors. Then again it depends on what amount of eggs you consume on a regular basis. Anyway, this site may help:
Quote: Best wishes.
