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

[Nomadicus]

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.

This is what I'm doing with my Bresse. I'm using 4 of the best roosters with 10 hens each of another breed, one of which is Delaware. Not sure of the other 3 but I will work it out. White Minorca may be a good choice if I can get the pullets. The White Minorca is threatened also. White Marans could possible be another as even White Leghorn could supply a few genes to start out with. It's a trial and error project.

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

This is what I'm doing with my Bresse. I'm using 4 of the best roosters with 10 hens each of another breed, one of which is Delaware. Not sure of the other 3 but I will work it out. White Minorca may be a good choice if I can get the pullets. The White Minorca is threatened also. White Marans could possible be another as even White Leghorn could supply a few genes to start out with. It's a trial and error project.

Did I miss something? Why would you do this aside from creating meat mutts?

Am Bresse have some great, very serious breeders out there now doing fantastic work. Pick a line and develop your own line from that, a few years down the road if you discover there is a fault or defect you cannot correct (physical, health, etc) there are multiple other genetically distinct lines you could turn to.

On the flip side, if everyone just starts mixing all the bloodlines willy nilly, you get a mess that's homogenized over the ENTIRE available population instead of genetically distinct bloodlines. This is one of the biggest problems rare breeds face... a lack of serious breeders putting in serious work on THEIR own pure strain allowing multiple genetically distinct flocks to co-exist independently "as back up" in case one hits a bottleneck and needs a single bird brought in to correct a problem.

You don't save a breed by outcrossing it to literally everything else out there.

You don't save a breed by reproducing and selling as many low quality birds as you can.

You save a breed by devoting your resources and time and energy to it and hatching and growing out as many as possible every year and then putting the bottom 80-90% of them in the freezer and starting over again the next year until you've bred out defects and faults and improved vigor and type and then, maybe, you can share some juvenile pairs or trios (not eggs or chicks) with someone else you think will have the gumption to do the same thing.

THAT is how you "save" a breed. It is a singular dedication, not a chick factory collection.

 

[Nomadicus]

Did I miss something? Why would you do this aside from creating meat mutts?

Am Bresse have some great, very serious breeders out there now doing fantastic work. Pick a line and develop your own line from that, a few years down the road if you discover there is a fault or defect you cannot correct (physical, health, etc) there are multiple other genetically distinct lines you could turn to.

On the flip side, if everyone just starts mixing all the bloodlines willy nilly, you get a mess that's homogenized over the ENTIRE available population instead of genetically distinct bloodlines. This is one of the biggest problems rare breeds face... a lack of serious breeders putting in serious work on THEIR own pure strain allowing multiple genetically distinct flocks to co-exist independently "as back up" in case one hits a bottleneck and needs a single bird brought in to correct a problem.

You don't save a breed by outcrossing it to literally everything else out there.

You don't save a breed by reproducing and selling as many low quality birds as you can.

You save a breed by devoting your resources and time and energy to it and hatching and growing out as many as possible every year and then putting the bottom 80-90% of them in the freezer and starting over again the next year until you've bred out defects and faults and improved vigor and type and then, maybe, you can share some juvenile pairs or trios (not eggs or chicks) with someone else you think will have the gumption to do the same thing.

THAT is how you "save" a breed. It is a singular dedication, not a chick factory collection.

I'm not out to save the breed. Leaving that to the younger generation. I just want some new and maybe even improved meat mutts. The same thing the original Bresse breeders did. Every new great breed started with an idea or sometimes just a what at the time might have been just a fluke that didn't get discarded because it wasn't to a SOP.

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

I'm not out to save the breed. Leaving that to the younger generation. I just want some new and maybe even improved meat mutts. The same thing the original Bresse breeders did. Every new great breed started with an idea or sometimes just a what at the time might have been just a fluke that didn't get discarded because it wasn't to a SOP.

You won't get much benefit from a Bresse, then. If you're just trying to make meat mutts, there are way better options.

Also, I thought this thread was about saving breed, not yet another one on making mutts. Don't get me wrong, I have as many fun crosses and mongrels around here as anyone, but THIS POST was about saving rare purebreds.

 

[Nomadicus]

You won't get much benefit from a Bresse, then. If you're just trying to make meat mutts, there are way better options.

I have several pure breeds in coops now that are either threatened or on the watch list. Some will remain pure and some will not only remain pure but the extra roosters will be used in a cross breeding program to see what might happen in the way of hybrid vigor and growth rate. So far I have 4 breeds in coops or about to be shipped in May and July that need some help. As far as the Bresse they will be put to the test with the claim that they can have marbling in their breast meat if fed a certain way. What will happen if:
1. A Bresse Cross if fed that way
2. A common dual purpose breed is also fed out to Bresse standards
I'm curious about the hype and just how much is fact and how much is true genetics.

 

[Dinoroar]

This is what I'm doing with my Bresse. I'm using 4 of the best roosters with 10 hens each of another breed, one of which is Delaware. Not sure of the other 3 but I will work it out. White Minorca may be a good choice if I can get the pullets. The White Minorca is threatened also. White Marans could possible be another as even White Leghorn could supply a few genes to start out with. It's a trial and error project.

Do you have any leads on white Minorcas ? I tried getting some from sand hill preservation last year but sadly they were only able to send a few in the box and those chicks had a sad fate in shipping. It was so bad I didn’t dare try and order again this year. I sure would love some white Minorcas though.

 

[Nomadicus]

Do you have any leads on white Minorcas ? I tried getting some from sand hill preservation last year but sadly they were only able to send a few in the box and those chicks had a sad fate in shipping. It was so bad I didn’t dare try and order again this year. I sure would love some white Minorcas though.

I've got a link to a small vendor who sells white Minorcas but am going to have to dig out that link tonight. It's on another computer. I don't see it on this one. Heading back out for evening chores now.

 

[Dinoroar]

I've got a link to a small vendor who sells white Minorcas but am going to have to dig out that link tonight. It's on another computer. I don't see it on this one. Heading back out for evening chores now.

No hurry at all but I would definitely be curious to check that out

 

[Chickenosauurs_RexNo54]

Do you have any leads on white Minorcas ? I tried getting some from sand hill preservation last year but sadly they were only able to send a few in the box and those chicks had a sad fate in shipping. It was so bad I didn’t dare try and order again this year. I sure would love some white Minorcas though.

I'm sorry for your chicks. Sandhill isn't a bad place to buy from, the owner is in fact a highly respected person in this community.

 

[Dinoroar]

I'm sorry for your chicks. Sandhill isn't a bad place to buy from, the owner is in fact a highly respected person in this community.

I don’t fault sand hill at all. It was just bad shipping luck. I didn’t mean to make it sound like I was speaking badly of them. I really respect the work they do.