National Geographic article (July 2011) pgs 112 - 113

[cgmccary]

I subscribe to National Geographic, and I read the article last night. I don't think they were implying that those {pictured} were the chicken breeds necessarily endangered. Instead, they were simply showing some of the the diversity of chicken breeds out there. Remember, our commercial industry is composed of a few lines of Cornish - Rock crosses for meat birds, and Leghorns for white egg layers and Sexlinks for brown eggs. There are but a few commercial lines, and their genetic diversity is low. The majority of the World eat commercial food and do not know where their food comes from nor do they question it.

In the article, (if I remember correctly) they asserted that 1/3 of chicken breeds were currently in danger of going extinct. Their focus was on the importance to the World's future food supply of maintaining a diverse genetic base in plant and animal foods. I like seeing the chart of vegetable and fruit diversity in 1903 vs. today's (apple varieties, tomatoes, etc.). The article highlighted wheat as an example in plant currently at risk. They mentioned the Egyptian Fayoumi as an example of diversity in chickens, being heat tolerant and resistant to many diseases (in a warming world). They mentioned Gulf Coast Sheep as being parasite resistant and heat tolerant -- landraces. They showed different breeds of cattle, different potatoes, etc.

The article is a general statement of the risk of the World's future food supply should calamity strike (and genetic diversity to deal with the same) & also, what took humans 10,000 years to select, cultivate and breed is at risk of being lost. Interesting too: the regions/ centers agricultural diversification.

Good article in NG to get the message to the general public but really not news to those of us who have known this for years -- and organizations, here in North America, the ALBC (American Livestock Breeds Conservancy), the SPPA (Society of the Preservation of Poultry Antiquities), among others have been saying the same for decades -- I'm sure there are agricultural plant preservationists organizations that have done the same. Food Inc., the 2008 documentary by film maker Robert Kenner, sent the same message -- there again, highlighting, for instance, the potato.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Everytime I see a list of "endangered" or "rare" chicken breeds, I think of how many of them I see at various shows. Some of the breeds usually listed are actually very common in backyard flocks. Yes, they are probably uncommon in commercial facilities, so their percentage of the overall chicken population is reatively low, but quite frankly the chickens used in mass production of meat and eggs do not seem to me to be common. For one thing, many of their hybrid strains are typically NOT available to the average consumer for his/her backyard flock.

A better means of determining commonality or rareness of a breed seems like looking to see how many of those breeds are ordered annually from all the combined hatcheries.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
That is a horrible example of a silkie, and I don't think the "pekin" looks like a bantam; it looks more like a large fowl cochin--by the British standard, not American.

 

[tgrlily]

I also wonder where they get their information...
The Dorking as a breed is in danger of extinction, but out of all the varieties, the Silver Grey is the most common.

 

[Arielle]

Articles written by Nat. Geo, a magazine that I personally love, are not written by say APA judges or breeders; rather a writer gathers information from reliable sources and presents the article with gorgeous pictures. THey serve the general public [edited to say: who has] little or no knowledge about a specific topic. ANd here on BYC, this is not the realm of the general public! Rather chicken afficianados!

Has anyone looked at the ALBC website; there is a list of poultry (and other livestock in the US) and it's rarity rating based on surveys. Compared to the number of ISA browns and leghorns and Cornish X, the other breeds are merely a drop in the bucket.IMO many of the rarer breeds do not make it onto the survey and therefore are not listed. The list is all encompassing, regardless of the place of origin (class).

Here on BYC we thrive on the breeds that make up the drop in the bucket, so we do have the impression that Buff Orpingtons are everywhere. They are higher in population numbers than other breeds for sure; and some like the Holland (chicken not turkey) is almost gone. I chose breeds that I can live in harmony with(dual purpose) and thru WHITEY, our freebie from MM, have come to appreciate the wildertype hamburg which is a VERY old breed and very rare. If not for MM, I would never have come to know this sprite fellow.

So here is the opportunity to recognize all the breeders that keep us in chickens, what ever your use is: foraging or tractor, eggs and/or meat, friend, watch dog, show stock, breeding, etc. The hatcheries get poo-poo-ed but they have kept breeding these un-commercialized breeds;the other end of the spectrum is the back yard breeders who have kept their hobby flocks going; and there all the breeders/producers in between.

As an APA judge told me: just get breeding and start with what you have.It only takes a trio to breed and someone to trade or get a new rooster each year. Or just buy chicks from a breeder to support that breeder. Many ways to keep the old breeds alive and thriving in numbers.

 

[Sparklee]

Quote:
Okay. Maybe.

However, I think somebody was "phoning it in." At least with the list of chickens. C'mon. They listed Blue Partridge Brahmas twice, once with a photo of the female and once with the photo of the male. One of the editors should have caught that. Maybe.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

For a magazine with as big a reputation as National Geographic, they sure exhibited shoddy journalism! Yes, we are a very select audience here on BC, but it really is not that hard to discover the APA, ABA, ALBC and SPPA. And to interview people affiliated with ALL of these organizations. That is the way you get BALANCED and ACCURATE information. Are there breeds in danger of extinction? Of course, but I did not see them list hollands or lamonas, or any of the other, very uncommon breeds. And listing blue partridge brahmas twice was plain ridiculous.

A lot more time spent researching, more time spent editing and they could have had a factual article to be proud of, aimed for the general public. Instead they put together poorly gathered, incomplete information and accompanied it with poor examples of photography. When I see such a poor article on something I DO know about, it makes me wonder about the validity of EVERYTHING else they write about.

 

[Arielle]

Talked to my grain guy today (driver/ mill owner) this afternoon and he said the demand for chicken feed is up, way up! As these are back yard chickens (versus commercial) the future may be looking a little brighter for these rare breeds!