Most Popular Small-Flock Chickens -- Resource For Selecting Your Chickens

[Bullitt]

No. The Leghorns lead overall for the four months, but the heavier Rock outlaid them in January. I suspect the Rocks would have also outlaid them in December had they been further north, with shorter days.

I see. Barred Rocks beat the Leghorns for one month. That is still impressive.

 

[Bullitt]

In 1926, Dryden's pen of Barred Rocks outlaid the top laying pen, of White Leghorns, in January in the Santa Cruz laying trials. The top Leghorn pen laid 769 eggs during the four months, the next highest pen were the Dryden Rocks at 726.

Dryden? Is that James Dryden who created the California Gray by crossing Barred Plymouth Rocks with White Leghorns?

 

[The Yakima Kid]

Dryden? Is that James Dryden who created the California Gray by crossing Barred Plymouth Rocks with White Leghorns?

If you have access to an agricultural college library, reading the older extension publications and poultry science books is extremely revealing. Until at least the late 1930s, the Holy Grail of poultry breeding seemed to be a calm, easily handled dual purpose breed that laid white eggs and had good carcass quality.

This was the era of:
Improved Barred and White Rocks
Improved Rhode Island Reds
Hollands (actually from the agricultural scientists in New Jersey)
Lamonas (Harry S. Lamon, Bureau of Animal Industries (now USDA research), a bird bred for good carcass quality in spent layers)
California Grays
New Hampshires (derived from RIRs with the goal of better meat qualities)
Improved White Wyandottes

There were also improved straight meat and egg breeds. Improved White Leghorns, and the Jersey Giant, bred to be the ultimate capon.

And yes, it was that Professor Dryden. My father taught in the College of Liberal Arts at Oregon State, and I used to hang out at the old Poultry Science Department office. The walls were covered with pictures of extremely high producing hens. The OSU Library at that time, and possibly still today, seemed to have a copy of almost every poultry book ever written. I was so intrigued, I actually raised white Leghorn layers in the backyard while I was in high school.

Unfortunately, I never pursued it in college as I worked my way through and even though I was paying most of the bills, my father ridiculed me so much I acquiesced to his opinions on what I should study. I later went back and received my degree in computer science although Daddy seemed to feel that girls needed liberal arts degrees to qualify them for girl jobs, such as working as waitresses or file clerks. Of course, I always had the impression from his quotes of ancient philosophers who likened educated women to talking dogs, that he suffered from a bad case of being of German ancestry and didn't see much point to women other than Kinder, Kuche, Kirche.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

I see. Barred Rocks beat the Leghorns for one month. That is still impressive.

In the "First Texas National Egg Laying Contest", the Barred Rocks took first and fourth, according to the Report from the Texas Agricultural Station.

Remember, these records were made in floor housing and other traditional forms, under old style feeds instead of in modern laying cages and highly controlled environments.

 

[Bullitt]

If you have access to an agricultural college library, reading the older extension publications and poultry science books is extremely revealing. Until at least the late 1930s, the Holy Grail of poultry breeding seemed to be a calm, easily handled dual purpose breed that laid white eggs and had good carcass quality.

This was the era of:
Improved Barred and White Rocks
Improved Rhode Island Reds
Hollands (actually from the agricultural scientists in New Jersey)
Lamonas (Harry S. Lamon, Bureau of Animal Industries (now USDA research), a bird bred for good carcass quality in spent layers)
California Grays
New Hampshires (derived from RIRs with the goal of better meat qualities)
Improved White Wyandottes

There were also improved straight meat and egg breeds. Improved White Leghorns, and the Jersey Giant, bred to be the ultimate capon.

And yes, it was that Professor Dryden. My father taught in the College of Liberal Arts at Oregon State, and I used to hang out at the old Poultry Science Department office. The walls were covered with pictures of extremely high producing hens. The OSU Library at that time, and possibly still today, seemed to have a copy of almost every poultry book ever written. I was so intrigued, I actually raised white Leghorn layers in the backyard while I was in high school.

Unfortunately, I never pursued it in college as I worked my way through and even though I was paying most of the bills, my father ridiculed me so much I acquiesced to his opinions on what I should study. I later went back and received my degree in computer science although Daddy seemed to feel that girls needed liberal arts degrees to qualify them for girl jobs, such as working as waitresses or file clerks. Of course, I always had the impression from his quotes of ancient philosophers who likened educated women to talking dogs, that he suffered from a bad case of being of German ancestry and didn't see much point to women other than Kinder, Kuche, Kirche.

I think James Dryden left the University of Oregon in the 1920s or so, so I am sure you were there after that. But I read that Dryden's breeding of chickens brought a lot of money to the university.

But then Dryden moved to California to start his chicken business. The California Gray became a popular breed for commercial egg production.


"Kinder, Küche, Kirche or the 3 Ks, is a German slogan translated as 'children, kitchen, church'."

People evolve.

So your father studied liberal arts and taught liberal arts, yet he only thought liberal arts was good for preparing women for "women's work"?

 

[The Yakima Kid]

I think James Dryden left the University of Oregon in the 1920s or so, so I am sure you were there after that. But I read that Dryden's breeding of chickens brought a lot of money to the university.

But then Dryden moved to California to start his chicken business. The California Gray became a popular breed for commercial egg production.


"Kinder, Küche, Kirche or the 3 Ks, is a German slogan translated as 'children, kitchen, church'."

People evolve.

So your father studied liberal arts and taught liberal arts, yet he only thought liberal arts was good for preparing women for "women's work"?

One of the things that drives me crazy is people encouraging those new to chicken keeping to get high strung, non-productive, noisy breeds and then further encouraging them to mix varieties that are highly likely to generate drama in the coop. Frequently these people are "experienced breeders" or "long term chicken keepers."

The new flock owner becomes discouraged, and then we have chickens that need new homes. One woman was encouraged by a breeder to combine Red Stars with Silkies with the predictable results. The new chicken keeper was so horrified by the bloodshed that she quit keeping chickens. Another retired woman was encouraged to obtain a flock of Marans for her backyard. She found herself with a noisy, human avoidant flock that behaved aggressively toward her and small children, irritated the neighbors with their noise, and she has vowed that when they die off, she will never, ever have another chicken. Neighbors do tend to complain about noisy, flying birds that disrupt their lives and destroy their prized gardens. Grand children are shocked at biddies that fly at them and peck viciously.

I've had people suggest that I keep Danish Leghorns in a part of Nevada where in the winter temperatures run into the teens, and and even lower - with the suggestion that there would be no problems if I just put Vaseline on their combs. I wonder how many novice keepers would realize the effort entailed in keeping the combs of active high strung chickens properly greased?

For as long as I can remember, I have suggested that novices who want some eggs - but aren't looking for very high productio - consider starting out with a uniform flock of plain old Barred Rocks, or maybe Orpingtons, Australorps, California Grays, Speckled Sussex, classic, calm Dark Rhode Island Reds, a good strain of New Hampshires, or even Dominiques if they have a sense of adventure. B^) A decent Faverolle would work, too. Maybe even a Welsumer.

And as long as I can remember, the self-appointed "experienced breeders" have suggested Andalusians, Danish Leghorns, Marans, Redcaps, Polish and other breeds that were not selected to play well in close proximity to people. Or they recommend breeds that require special care - the Asians with heavy leg feathers and the Silkies.

People need to read up on the backgrounds of the different breeds. The Dominiques resulted from whatever lived in a town or country families poultry yard where they needed to be reasonably quiet, calm, and easily handled. Javas resulted from the surviving living food and occasional novelty brought in by sea captain's returning from overseas and added to the family poultry yard. Many of the classic British calm breeds descend from cottager stock that was brought in at night to roost by the fire in cold weather - a practice that dates to at least the Iron Age as excavated Iron Age villages show dust bath depressions right inside the doorways of the houses! Rhode Island Reds were "improved" from local stock whose origins traced to the family poultry yard.

Many other breeds descend from chickens that were used as scavengers outside of a family poultry yard whose main interactions with people were being ejected from the nest when it was time to collect the eggs or being dispatched for dinner.

Some of the Asian breeds were imported specifically because of their great size and gentle natures. Compare a Cochin with a Redcap, and one quickly sees why the British went wild for them. Reading the contemporary reports, one finds that the gentleness of the chickens was at least as remarkable to the onlookers as their size.

My personal belief is that new and experienced keepers alike need to pay close attention to the purposes of the birds they select. If you live in suburb or city where you have close neighbors, one of the traditional family flock birds listed above is probably more likely to meet your needs than one of the higher strung or more appearance bred breeds.

Off my soapbox.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

I think James Dryden left the University of Oregon in the 1920s or so, so I am sure you were there after that. But I read that Dryden's breeding of chickens brought a lot of money to the university.

But then Dryden moved to California to start his chicken business. The California Gray became a popular breed for commercial egg production.


"Kinder, Küche, Kirche or the 3 Ks, is a German slogan translated as 'children, kitchen, church'."

People evolve.

So your father studied liberal arts and taught liberal arts, yet he only thought liberal arts was good for preparing women for "women's work"?

Professor Dryden was never at the University of Oregon; he was at Oregon Agricultural College, now Oregon State University.

Yes, he left long before I wandered around the Poultry Science Department in the 1960s, but he was still revered, there were still a few older faculty and staff who remembered him (they weren't mandating that academics retire by age seventy in that era), and his influence and inspiration were still everywhere - after forty years! He retired to Modesto, which is much better chicken country than the colder, wetter, clay soiled Willamette Valley.

The Liberal Arts offers little in the way of career opportunities outside of teaching, and unless you wish to brave a classroom full of adolescents, that means earning a PhD - and then you earn less to start with that degree than a graduate with a four year degree in business, pharmacy, agriculture, computer science, mathematics, engineering, etc.

My father seemed to view college for women as an opportunity to obtain a better class of husband, and since I was uniquely unattractive, as well as having birth defects, that was obviously not going to be useful in my case.

 

[Bullitt]

One of the things that drives me crazy is people encouraging those new to chicken keeping to get high strung, non-productive, noisy breeds and then further encouraging them to mix varieties that are highly likely to generate drama in the coop. Frequently these people are "experienced breeders" or "long term chicken keepers."

The new flock owner becomes discouraged, and then we have chickens that need new homes. One woman was encouraged by a breeder to combine Red Stars with Silkies with the predictable results. The new chicken keeper was so horrified by the bloodshed that she quit keeping chickens. Another retired woman was encouraged to obtain a flock of Marans for her backyard. She found herself with a noisy, human avoidant flock that behaved aggressively toward her and small children, irritated the neighbors with their noise, and she has vowed that when they die off, she will never, ever have another chicken. Neighbors do tend to complain about noisy, flying birds that disrupt their lives and destroy their prized gardens. Grand children are shocked at biddies that fly at them and peck viciously.

I've had people suggest that I keep Danish Leghorns in a part of Nevada where in the winter temperatures run into the teens, and and even lower - with the suggestion that there would be no problems if I just put Vaseline on their combs. I wonder how many novice keepers would realize the effort entailed in keeping the combs of active high strung chickens properly greased?

For as long as I can remember, I have suggested that novices who want some eggs - but aren't looking for very high productio - consider starting out with a uniform flock of plain old Barred Rocks, or maybe Orpingtons, Australorps, California Grays, Speckled Sussex, classic, calm Dark Rhode Island Reds, a good strain of New Hampshires, or even Dominiques if they have a sense of adventure. B^) A decent Faverolle would work, too. Maybe even a Welsumer.

And as long as I can remember, the self-appointed "experienced breeders" have suggested Andalusians, Danish Leghorns, Marans, Redcaps, Polish and other breeds that were not selected to play well in close proximity to people. Or they recommend breeds that require special care - the Asians with heavy leg feathers and the Silkies.

People need to read up on the backgrounds of the different breeds. The Dominiques resulted from whatever lived in a town or country families poultry yard where they needed to be reasonably quiet, calm, and easily handled. Javas resulted from the surviving living food and occasional novelty brought in by sea captain's returning from overseas and added to the family poultry yard. Many of the classic British calm breeds descend from cottager stock that was brought in at night to roost by the fire in cold weather - a practice that dates to at least the Iron Age as excavated Iron Age villages show dust bath depressions right inside the doorways of the houses! Rhode Island Reds were "improved" from local stock whose origins traced to the family poultry yard.

Many other breeds descend from chickens that were used as scavengers outside of a family poultry yard whose main interactions with people were being ejected from the nest when it was time to collect the eggs or being dispatched for dinner.

Some of the Asian breeds were imported specifically because of their great size and gentle natures. Compare a Cochin with a Redcap, and one quickly sees why the British went wild for them. Reading the contemporary reports, one finds that the gentleness of the chickens was at least as remarkable to the onlookers as their size.

My personal belief is that new and experienced keepers alike need to pay close attention to the purposes of the birds they select. If you live in suburb or city where you have close neighbors, one of the traditional family flock birds listed above is probably more likely to meet your needs than one of the higher strung or more appearance bred breeds.

Off my soapbox.

If it gets well below freezing regularly where you are, you are right that Leghorns would not be the best choice. I like Light Brown Leghorns. The Danish strain is very similar.

These are good suggestions. That is why these are some of the most popular breeds.

"For as long as I can remember, I have suggested that novices who want some eggs - but aren't looking for very high productio - consider starting out with a uniform flock of plain old Barred Rocks, or maybe Orpingtons, Australorps, California Grays, Speckled Sussex, classic, calm Dark Rhode Island Reds, a good strain of New Hampshires, or even Dominiques if they have a sense of adventure. B^) A decent Faverolle would work, too. Maybe even a Welsumer."

I thought the California Gray does have high production of eggs?

I personally don't like breeds with feathers sticking up on their heads or feathers on their legs. I don't like the look and it causes more difficulties.

 

[Bullitt]

Professor Dryden was never at the University of Oregon; he was at Oregon Agricultural College, now Oregon State University.

Yes, he left long before I wandered around the Poultry Science Department in the 1960s, but he was still revered, there were still a few older faculty and staff who remembered him (they weren't mandating that academics retire by age seventy in that era), and his influence and inspiration were still everywhere - after forty years! He retired to Modesto, which is much better chicken country than the colder, wetter, clay soiled Willamette Valley.

The Liberal Arts offers little in the way of career opportunities outside of teaching, and unless you wish to brave a classroom full of adolescents, that means earning a PhD - and then you earn less to start with that degree than a graduate with a four year degree in business, pharmacy, agriculture, computer science, mathematics, engineering, etc.

My father seemed to view college for women as an opportunity to obtain a better class of husband, and since I was uniquely unattractive, as well as having birth defects, that was obviously not going to be useful in my case.

Funny!

OK, "Oregon Agricultural College, now Oregon State University."

Yes, there is some very good farm land in California. That's why all the people from the Dust Bowl headed out to California in the 1930s to work on the farms.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

If it gets well below freezing regularly where you are, you are right that Leghorns would not be the best choice. I like Light Brown Leghorns. The Danish strain is very similar.

These are good suggestions. That is why these are some of the most popular breeds.

"For as long as I can remember, I have suggested that novices who want some eggs - but aren't looking for very high productio - consider starting out with a uniform flock of plain old Barred Rocks, or maybe Orpingtons, Australorps, California Grays, Speckled Sussex, classic, calm Dark Rhode Island Reds, a good strain of New Hampshires, or even Dominiques if they have a sense of adventure. B^) A decent Faverolle would work, too. Maybe even a Welsumer."

I thought the California Gray does have high production of eggs?

I personally don't like breeds with feathers sticking up on their heads or feathers on their legs. I don't like the look and it causes more difficulties.

Yes, California Grays tend to have a very high production of eggs - but they don't produce like a commercial white Leghorn. Many Rock, RIR, and Australorp strains are also high producing - but like the California Gray they do not produce like a commercial white Leghorn. Larger birds require more feed to maintain the bird, so one has to compare not only the production rates, but the feed consumption.

On the other hand, cannibalism losses in undebeaked flocks of white Leghorns can run 10% - 15%, even with the best management and plenty of pasture.

Yes, crests and feathers on the legs cause more difficulties; some crested chickens have cranial hernias, apparenty as a result of being homozygous - i.e. CR/CR instead of CR/cr.

There is an interesting article you might like to read that shows a correlation between CR (cresting) and an atypical expression of HOXC8 in cranial skin that seems to cause the atypical feather growth in crested chickens and seems to be a case of the atypical expression causing cranial skin to behave like dermal skin and produce feather growth more like dorsal feather growth.


http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0034012

~~Research Article The Crest Phenotype in Chicken Is Associated with Ectopic Expression of HOXC8 in Cranial Skin Yanqiang Wang, Yu Gao, Freyja Imsland, Xiaorong Gu, Chungang Feng, Ranran Liu, Chi Song, Michèle Tixier-Boichard, David Gourichon, Qingyuan Li, Kuanwei Chen, Huifang Li, Leif Andersson, Xiaoxiang Hu mail, Ning Li mail [ view less ] Published: April 13, 2012 •DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0034012

From the Introduction:

~~A feather-crested head is a prominent feature exhibited by several wild bird species, as well as varieties of several domesticated birds [1]. In chickens Crest (Cr) is an autosomal incompletely dominant mutation that causes a tuft of elongated feathers to sprout from the head, with homozygous individuals often exhibiting a more developed crest than heterozygotes. The phenotype shows a degree of sexual dimorphism, with males exhibiting more voluminous crests than females. Homozygosity for Crest has been associated with cerebral hernia that causes a malformation of the cranium [2], [3], [4], [5], [6].