- Apr 8, 2010
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Hello everyone.
This site restores hope that there are indeed supporters of the fancy still out there.
I say that because where I am located, in the southwest corner of Quebec, there is very little evidence of the old standard breeds anywhere nearby. There are commercial meat birds and layers around, but not a specimen of an old backyard standard like the Speckled Sussex or Rhode Island Red to be found. Our local spring fair depends on poultry exhibitors who travel from at least an hour and a half away, and some of the birds they bring are pretty nice (no Sussex or Reds, however), but so many of them are inferior to what we used to see 30 or 40 years ago. Leghorns are as rare as hen's teeth now, and when a white or two, for instance, shows up every three years or so, it is wimpy and coarse. What passes for a Light Brown now is a small, scruffy muddle that looks like a homeless person with dubious parentage. I haven't seen a Cornish in about twenty years.
The bantams seem to be faring somewhat better and there appears to be a surge in interest in Japanese breeds of both sizes. But the Silkies look sad. No Sebrights. Rare Minorcas are half the size they are supposed to be.
I encourage people who contact me looking for a seller of layers to forget about the commercial breeds and go for a breed recognized in The American Standard of Perfection. By doing so, they will be helping to rescue these beautiful races and keep their superior genetic traits circulating.
But I point out that by searching out and giving a lifeline to these old breeds the greatest service they will be doing will be to themselves. Feed costs serious money these days, and no one truly expects to get rich selling eggs, but the more important cost of raising birds is your time, an ever-dwindling resource you can never recoup. So if you are going to be spending all that time constructing, repairing, grooming, feeding and shovelling, you sure should like what youre looking at while you do it.
And then take your birds to your local fair, or even a not-so-local fair, to show them off. And teach people. I guarantee youll find buyers. But most of all, youll have a great time, while you help save a breed or two.
www.ormstownfair.com
This site restores hope that there are indeed supporters of the fancy still out there.
I say that because where I am located, in the southwest corner of Quebec, there is very little evidence of the old standard breeds anywhere nearby. There are commercial meat birds and layers around, but not a specimen of an old backyard standard like the Speckled Sussex or Rhode Island Red to be found. Our local spring fair depends on poultry exhibitors who travel from at least an hour and a half away, and some of the birds they bring are pretty nice (no Sussex or Reds, however), but so many of them are inferior to what we used to see 30 or 40 years ago. Leghorns are as rare as hen's teeth now, and when a white or two, for instance, shows up every three years or so, it is wimpy and coarse. What passes for a Light Brown now is a small, scruffy muddle that looks like a homeless person with dubious parentage. I haven't seen a Cornish in about twenty years.
The bantams seem to be faring somewhat better and there appears to be a surge in interest in Japanese breeds of both sizes. But the Silkies look sad. No Sebrights. Rare Minorcas are half the size they are supposed to be.
I encourage people who contact me looking for a seller of layers to forget about the commercial breeds and go for a breed recognized in The American Standard of Perfection. By doing so, they will be helping to rescue these beautiful races and keep their superior genetic traits circulating.
But I point out that by searching out and giving a lifeline to these old breeds the greatest service they will be doing will be to themselves. Feed costs serious money these days, and no one truly expects to get rich selling eggs, but the more important cost of raising birds is your time, an ever-dwindling resource you can never recoup. So if you are going to be spending all that time constructing, repairing, grooming, feeding and shovelling, you sure should like what youre looking at while you do it.
And then take your birds to your local fair, or even a not-so-local fair, to show them off. And teach people. I guarantee youll find buyers. But most of all, youll have a great time, while you help save a breed or two.
www.ormstownfair.com
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