I am only just now learnign about the difference between hatchery breeds and non-hatchery breeds. I would like to know if you can buy stock at the Texas state fair in October. The ones I've been to on the East coast have a lot of buying/selling going on. Seems to me like a good place to start finding better genes?
There are lots of places to find breeders that breed to the SOP - just have to look for them once you decide on a breed. There are some great people on the Heritage Large Fowl thread that will help find breeders. Some breeders are getting better about being found online. Going to poultry shows, reading the Poultry Press (monthly newspaper you can subscribe to), checking out breed clubs and preservation organizations are other good ways to find standard bred birds.
Something that many people don't realize, is that some good breeders will not sell eggs or chicks. This is because chicken genetics is more complicated than people think, and even breeder/show quality birds can produce off-spring that aren't breeder/show quality. There are breeders that just don't want to sell anything that is still too young to see if they have good vigor, type, etc. and then risk someone being angry that some of the chicks they bought had flaws. Cuz the fact is, there is no perfect chicken, they all have flaws, even the show birds.
It can also be difficult with some rarer breeds to get the good birds because most breeders don't breed/hatch on a large scale. And they don't usually hatch year round. So there isn't as many available to buy like when you buy from a hatchery. It's important that once you have decided on what birds you want to get, that you find a reputable breeder and get your order in early - like in the fall for winter/early spring hatching and in the winter for the following fall hatching if the breeder hatches in fall.
One thing to beware of is getting birds that you think are bred to the SOP but really aren't. Ask for photos, see birds in person, and get recommendations from others on the breeder's quality of birds. And take a copy of the breed's SOP with you along with illustrations, so you can easily recall what the SOP is so you can see how well a breeder breeds to the SOP if they claim to do so or are claiming "show quality" birds.
We obtained some lovely chickens that were bred to the SOP and then we got some more from elsewhere - once they started growing we realized that they had been bred for egg production but not for SOP. Their type is wrong enough to see when looking at them next to the females of our other group that WERE bred to the SO,P even though they are technically the same breed.
Those non-SOP birds have turned into our food-egg laying flock and not part of our breeding flock because I just can't in good conscience sell eggs/offspring from them when they have such a significant type flaw. We've hatched some from both groups, and the ones hatched from the SOP group have good type and look like they should. And the ones from the non-SOP group that we hatched...they started showing the same serious type flaw at a very young age, just like their parents. I like them, but not for breeding to keep a rare breed alive and looking how they should look.
Have never been to the state fair to see if they sell birds. You do have to beware even at fairs and poultry shows because there are often hatchery birds that get entered into shows. And even they can win ribbons. So if you end up really wanting standard-bred chickens, it helps to know what they should look like before you buy any chickens. Cuz there are some really pretty non-standard birds out there that can distract you.
There's nothing wrong with having hatchery.feed store stock either. It just depends on what kind of goals you set for yourself and your flock.
