What are the rarest breeds of poultry? How many are there? And how can we save them?

[Chickenosauurs_RexNo54]

WHat are the rarest breeds of poultry and how can we save them?

 

[LTAY1946]

WHat are the rarest breeds of poultry and how can we save them?

According to a recent census there are about 200 Bruges Fighter chickens left in their native land of Belgium. These are on my radar to acquire a handful of soon. They are people friendly. https://greenfirefarms.com/bruges_fighter.html imported them in 2021. A few were sold beginning 2022.

 

[djm0319]

WHat are the rarest breeds of poultry and how can we save them?

https://livestockconservancy.org/heritage-breeds/conservation-priority-list/

 

[bhaugh]

The problem with “rarest” is the gene pool to reserect them to ok staus I’ve read over the years. Most breeds fall out of popularity and die out. One breed I had for a short while was Java. They aren’t the best layer but a wonderful temperament. They have been used to make many other breeds and it’s sad very few keep them anymore. I don’t have chickens now or I’d probably have some.

 

[Chickenosauurs_RexNo54]

According to a recent census there are about 200 Bruges Fighter chickens left in their native land of Belgium. These are on my radar to acquire a handful of soon. They are people friendly. https://greenfirefarms.com/bruges_fighter.html imported them in 2021. A few were sold beginning 2022.

That's great to hear someone else is going to raise some of those beautiful birds.

 

[Amer]

https://livestockconservancy.org/heritage-breeds/poultry-breeds/
Some of the rarest chickens with historical significance in the US are here.

 

[MysteryChicken]

I'm working on trying to preserve Malays.

 

[NagemTX]

I'll be working with Spitzhauben and Phoenix. I may eventually do Yokohama and Sumatra as well. Really depends on how well I can take hatchery stock and improve it.

 

[LTAY1946]

We have Dark Cornish about ready to get their own coop and run now along with some Jersey Giants. The Jersey Giants are on the Watch list and the Dark Cornish are on the threatened list. Coming in May we have a start with Anconas that are also on the Threatened list. In July we have Rhode Island Whites that are on the threatened list.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

The problem with “rarest” is the gene pool to reserect them to ok staus I’ve read over the years. Most breeds fall out of popularity and die out.

Piggybacking off of that thought, rare breeds that have went through a genetic bottleneck often become unhealthily inbred and are in need of fresh genes via outcrossing; something many breed enthusiasts are loath to do. 200 years ago, outcrossing was more common when “breed” was considered a fluid concept.

So sometimes saving a breed means temporarily mixing it with another breed, then line breeding it back the breed definition.