Received our first egg layers, black sex links!

[LeslieMiikal]

What are heritage breeds exactly anyway? Are they "old" breeds?

 

[Leighe]

Yes and some are headed into extinction. Seems folks want more "color, bigger, cuter"(I'm one of them so I'm not pointing fingers at anyone but myself) and have created all sorts of new chickens. Heritage breeds remind me of old buildings (especially those in Europe). They have withstood the test of time, they were literally used for eggs and meat (didn't need fancy looking chickens back then....needed food). Buildings were built to last...pyramids, stone buildings still standing from the 1500's without a bit of grout in sight, shoot...anything still standing from Mayan days. Do our people look back and say "Wow, that's something we need to look at, buildings that will last centuries"? Nope....we go "Wow, this building will be so cool looking, the lines, the style". BTW, I love buildings, lol. But it occurs to me I'd rather live in something not so pretty and know it will make it through tornadoes, rain, hail, snow, high winds, earthquakes....then to live in "pretty" and lose everything I own and have to start all over. Therefore, if I want good meat and reliable egg laying (But more for the meat in my case), I want Heritage Breeds. There are many kinds, just look them up. I don't buy the Cornish X, those were my first chickens (TSC said they were Rock Cornish hens), had not intention of butchering chickens within 8-9 weeks. Never again. Talk about nuclear bomb poo, Goodness!