Science Fiction, again. Why Should Your Favorite Breed Go to Space?

3KillerBs

Addict
14 Years
Jul 10, 2009
23,957
73,298
1,431
North Carolina Sandhills
My Coop
My Coop
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=255023 for background if you're interested.

Now that I know how many chickens of each kind to take, ...

Why, other than general principles of maximum genetic diversity, should space colonists take YOUR FAVORITE breed with them to a new planet?

Its pretty easy to justify the heritage breeds en masse -- though specific qualities given heritage breeds are known for would be good to emphasize. But I'm especially interested in knowing why they might include any of the bantam and/or ornamental breeds.

What would your favorite breed of poultry bring to the barnyard mix on a new world?
 
I have a rooster, named Rodney, that just might be launched into space by my husbands boot. He's nice to me, but he is always challenging and chest bumping DH.
 
I think you would want to include some bantams that are strictly bantams, like d'Uccles, because they may have immunities that would be beneficial.
Also, the foot feathers could act as anowshoes, allowing the chicken to walk on surfaces that a heavier chicken with 'bald' feet might sink into and become stuck.
 
Quote:
Good thought there on the bantam-only breeds. I had forgotten that some bantams didn't have full-size counterparts.

Anyone else want to chime in to book their favorite breed a room on the colony transport?
 
I would imagine that a lot of them would be dual purpose breeds so they could be used for both meat and eggs and it would also need to be a dual purpose breed that will go broody and hatch their own chicks, one that is good at foraging might come in handy too. I don't really have a breed in mind, just some things to consider.
 
I would still go with d'Uccles. They are a bantam-only breed, very good foragers, and very docile. Also, they make good broodies/ mommas (even if the can't sit on a BUNCH of eggs at once). The roos are good at defending the flocks, too.

Also, the different types could be used for camoflage purposes to avoid predators. Millies blend in VERY well with forest debris, as I'm sure black mottleds would as well. In a gray environment a self-blue d'Uccle would blend right in, as would a blue mottled. Porcelains would blend well in desert environs. Add the excellent foraging skills with this ability to blend in the environment, plus awesome flying abilities, and you get a well-rounded set of awesome survival skills.

And because they also like people, you get the psychological benefits of a pet. They are happy to see you, quite willing to fly onto your shoulder for attention, and mine have all climbed into my lap to be petted any time I sit down. One day they even knocked the cat off my lap so that they could comfort me after a really bad day. So even though they'd be small, they'd still be functioning on more levels than just as a food source.
 
Quote:
You've made a very good case the the d'Uccles.

Especially the foraging skills. I'd had the impression that bantams as a group were higher-maintenance than full-size chickens and that the feather-footed breeds were poor foragers regardless of size.
smile.png
 
Quite frankly, I think your colonists would not be interested so much in taking APA breeds as in taking landrace-type chickens from various points across the globe. That is populations of chickens that have not experienced much if any artificial selection for foofy appearance-type traits, but that HAVE experienced sometimes-strong natural selection, for countless generations already, for thriftiness, healthy, ability to deal with the vicissitudes of climate and weather, ability to fend for themselves, etc.

Sure, they might *also* want to take some breeds with other particularly desirable traits -- some thing(s) from the 'heavy meat bird' type breeds and some thing(s) from the 'very efficient and prolific egglayer' type breeds/lines would be logical, also possibly some other notable traits like bantams, naked-necks, and any other traits of likely use (e.g. color genes) that don't happen to be represented already in the landrace-type populations they're taking.

But I would betcha dollars to donuts that the landrace type birds would be by far the most useful and likeliest to survive on other worlds.

Pat
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom