Opinions Wanted - best breed to save???

[k0r1nag]

I am very interested in choosing a critically endangered or threatened breed to raise. I would prefer something that is a good dual purpose breed that has something "unique" to recommend it as I need to sell enough eggs, chicks or adults of this breed to help defray the cost of upkeep. I live in SW Washington and live at a high elevation so a reasonably cold hardy bird is a must as I do not have electrical running to my coops and barns.

I have been to the American Livestock Conservancy site, and have looked up many breeds in books and on-line, but I find that personal experience is so much more useful in making decisions. So I would really appreciate any suggestions for a breed and what makes it so wonderful and unique.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Have you narrowed it down at all? I say you can't go wrong with Faverolles!!!

 

[greatergraceoffbg]

Icelandics are a breed truly in need of saving. But you must be committed to Isolating them from other breeds completely. They are unique genetically but come in such a vast array of color, crested/non crested, grey to pink legged, larger and smaller, mottled, solids etc. that its not a phenotypically defined chicken, in other words you can't really tell by looking at them. But there is a lot of research being done and so far it has been determined that the Icelandics have less Chromosomes than common domestic chickens and statements in various sources vary but it is commonly reported that the Icelandics are 78% different than all other domestic chickens. One added bird destroys those unique genetics. If you type Icelandics in the search box here on BYC it will pull up a thread that is chock full of pictures and interesting reading as well as really nice warm people!
I hope you enjoy this and take these dear Icelandics to heart!
Have a kind day!
Andy in Fredericksburg

 

[TK Poultry]

What about the Dorking?

 

[mississippifarmboy]

The best advise I can give you is that if you are serious about helping to save a breed or variety is...

Pick one that you love.

It takes passion and a lot of work to really do more than just raise birds. Of course pick a breed that would do well in your area and that is of good quality.

Good luck!

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

Quote:
To be honest, pick the breed you like. All quality purebred chickens need "saving".

Plus, if you don't like it enough to stick with it for many, many years, chances are you won't have enough to do any real "saving" anyway.

Good luck!

 

[punky rooster]

Quote:
X2 they are far rare er than the ALBC lists them

 

[Omniskies]

I agree wholeheartedly with saving the one you love rather than trying to love the one you save.

You will be putting a lot of money, effort, and time into whatever breed you decide to save. If you aren't truly passionate about it then you may regret that you didn't go with what you loved to begin with.

Also don't feel limited to what is on the critical list. The breeds that are threatened could be threatened because the numbers are drastically lower, or because they are slowly increasing: it's hard to tell. Plus there are a lot of breeds that aren't on the list that need saving; there are plenty of the breed out there, but very few that live up to the quality they are supposed to have.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

What color egg do you want?

http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html

 

[Illia]

Breeds that need desperate saving are:

Sultans, Redcaps, La Fleche, Crevecoeurs, New Hampshires, Houdans, Dorkings, Sicilian Buttercups


Though the ALBC considers some of these as common, remember - The ALBC only counts hatcheries and breeders with more than 50 birds of the variety.