Old and Rare Breeds

[Trooper Man]

Well I just recently got out of game fowl (American) too many cages, separating, etc. I did not have the time to keep up with it all. I had over 100 cages at one point in time. I have had oriental and American game fowl and liked them both very much. One day I might get some more just a few. I always liked the Ganoi but anyways I plan on having some chickens that can be friendly to each other for a while lol. But I do not want the average every day chickens I want something different that is why I want the SFH because they are all different. I have thought about maybe some Black copper Marans, or something odd and exciting. I am open to all suggestions from anyone and do not mind to pay if it something i want to put my time and money into.

 

[Penny Hen]

Well I just recently got out of game fowl (American) too many cages, separating, etc. I did not have the time to keep up with it all. I had over 100 cages at one point in time. I have had oriental and American game fowl and liked them both very much. One day I might get some more just a few. I always liked the Ganoi but anyways I plan on having some chickens that can be friendly to each other for a while lol. But I do not want the average every day chickens I want something different that is why I want the SFH because they are all different. I have thought about maybe some Black copper Marans, or something odd and exciting. I am open to all suggestions from anyone and do not mind to pay if it something i want to put my time and money into.

Odd and exciting, hmmmm: Breda, LaFleshe, Huastec, Appenzeller Spitzhauben, Appenzeller Barthunners, Brabranter, Naked Necks, Colloncas, Black Olmec Quechua, Sweet Potato Quechua, Pyncheons, Olandsk Dwarf, Maiden Rock Bantam, Howdans, Scotts Dumpy, Persian (Manx) Rumpy, Scotts Grey, Vorwerk, Lakenvelder, Sulmtaler, Cubalaya, Sumatra and Black White-faced Spanish.

 

[Trooper Man]

Odd and exciting, hmmmm: Breda, LaFleshe, Huastec, Appenzeller Spitzhauben, Appenzeller Barthunners, Brabranter, Naked Necks, Colloncas, Black Olmec Quechua, Sweet Potato Quechua, Pyncheons, Olandsk Dwarf, Maiden Rock Bantam, Howdans, Scotts Dumpy, Persian (Manx) Rumpy, Scotts Grey, Vorwerk, Lakenvelder, Sulmtaler, Cubalaya, Sumatra and Black White-faced Spanish.

Thank you can most of these breeds be found in the U.S?

 

[Penny Hen]

Thank you can most of these breeds be found in the U.S?

Yes. Sandhill Preservation has the Cubalaya, the Sumatra (in blue and black and splash), the LaFleshe, Scotts Dumpy and the Persian (Manx) Rumpy. The also have a White White-faced Spanish developed out of the sports of the Black ones.

GrannyChick55 has the Huastec, the Black Olmec Quechua, the Sweet Potato Quechua and the Collancas. These are good in the cold too, good winter layers, colored eggs.

There is a breeder in Colorado who has the main bunch of Breda. He bought up the original import from Greenfire.

Greenfire has the Spitzhaubin, the Barthunner, and the Sulmtaler. They charge a pretty penny. Chickensmart in Portland, TN has a pair of Sulmtalers but I don't think they are laying yet.

There is a breeder selling the Barthunner eggs on Ebay for reasonable prices.

Many of these other are bred by someone on this list. Look in the breed threads. That will also give you a good idea what is a quality bird of that breed. For instance there is a seller on Ebay right now that is selling Bantam Whitefaced Spanish but the faces of her birds are not completely white but mostly red with large white earlobes. That is not how they are supposed to look.

The Maiden Rocks you can find by googling. They are not related to Rocks but were developed at a place called Maiden Rock. They are really unique bantam laying a blue medium egg and come in millifleur and laced in gold and silver. Ameraucana bantams and Seabrights were some of the base genetics. They are not in the Standard of Perfection being a fairly new creation but definitely in the categories of beautiful and unique.

 

[saladin]

White Faced Black Spanish: first non-Game breed brought to the Americas by the Spanish: a very Ancient breed.

Cubalayas: a recently created fowl going back to the late 1800s/early 1900s from Cuba. A combination of many different Game breeds, but itself not Game. One of the most intelligent fowl I have ever raised.

Several of the breeds listed are rare in America simply because they are 'new' imports: very faddish. I wouldn't purchase anything from Greenfire Farms. I'm not against capitalism just fads. It does help to drive up prices of fowl in general; so, I guess I shouldn't complain, but I have excellent fowl and can get what I ask for them without the recent faddish imports. To each his own: If I have this figured correctly, Greenfire Farms is laughing all the way to the back. They have invested the time and money into the imports and have a right to be compensated accordingly, usually by those who are beginners into fowl who enjoy the faddish and the new. This is not a knock, just a simple fact by a fellow that has been into chickens longer than most on this board have been breathing air.

I remember when the Saigon Junglefowl first came out. Saylor invented this great yarn (there were few who believed it back when though many buy it now: I didn't then and don't now) about where and how they first came about. Those original birds were huge and commanded prices of $1,000 to $1,500 a piece and that was well over 30 years ago. There were folks paying that kind of money too. Now the birds come smaller and you can't give them away. There are a few breeders who are trying to get the height back to where it once was, but alas that seems to be gone too.

In other words, choose what you want because you want too. You're the one paying the feed bill. It can be Ancient or just rare because it is a recent import. It doesn't really matter as long as you don't care that old fellows like me will tell you the truth of what we think when we think it. Again, you're paying the feed bill; it doesn't matter what the likes of me or anyone else thinks.

However, I will say that to pay $49 or better for one un-sexed day old chicken is, well, more than my stomach can handle. You got to be taking something really bad to lay down that kind of cash for a day old chicken.

 

[saladin]

Another example of propaganda is the Sussex. A great breed of chicken, but by no means 'old.' There was an ancient landrace breed of chicken known as the Sussex in and around the area of the same name in England. However, the breed of chicken known today as the 'Sussex' is a modern re-creation of that old breed.

People are easily duped who don't know their history of fowl; particularly of modern fowl.

Also, a recent import does not necessarily make that bird better than what we currently have.

For example, take the Cubalaya; you can still find Cubalayas in Cuba, but they are so substandard when compared to what we have in the States or in Europe that it is just plain pathetic.

 

[Trooper Man]

I have room to keep 3-4 families easily. I just want something different instead of the common chickens you always see. I do not mind to pay if I could meet someone even better that way I would not have to pay that shipping which is a killer. I plan on keeping 3-4 families pure and segregated that way I can keep up with everything and know what is what. I am getting the SFH and that is my first breed I would like to get some offers thrown at me and I might be able to make a deal to buy some birds from them. I am looking for a started or adult trio of something that way I can raise out of a rooster and two hens in a 10x10 dog kennel. Feel free to p.m me and tell me what you got and we might be able to work something out. I live in NE Tennessee so I would not mind meeting someone in SW Virginia, Western North Carolina or East Tennessee so we would not have to ship.

 

[cubakid]

I have a good friend that works with the USDA who has been working on an import hatchery setup for 3 years now. 03-04 are a lifetime ago. AI changed everything.

Doc, how is that hatching facility coming? Seems like he's been at it forever.

 

[saladin]

Zach,
I feel the same way. I've not heard from him in something like 6 or 7 months now. I'm not sure what the snag is.

 

[saladin]

The Unifour Show will be in Salisbury, NC on 1 March 2014. I plan to be there as always. If I have something you need just send me a pm and I'll see what I can do to help you out.