What breeds have you kept across your chickening life and why?

[troyer]

Interesting thread. I've kept a ton over the years. As a teenager and young adult I'd regularly hatch hundreds to even a thousand chicks a year from a number of breeds. Now an old man I don't have the free time. The purpose of raising all these breeds was I had aspirations of becoming an APA judge and my mentor said a judge should raise as many as possible, so I did and bred them as close to the standard and their original purpose as I could. Then gave up on becoming a judge because, and really even showing I just hate traveling (and you've got to do a lot of that if you're a poultry guy in the pacific northwest.).

So here's the list (I think, I'm old, my memory sucks), just the breeds I spent at least one breeding season with:

Buckeye
Jersey Giant
Plymouth Rock
Wyandotte
Rhode Island Red
Dominique
Delaware
Brahma
Cochin
Langshan
Dorking
Orpington
Australorp
Hamburg
Polish
Houdan
Favorelles
La Fleche
Campine
Welsummer
Leghorn
Andalusian
Minorca
Sicilian Buttercup
Phoenix
Sumatra
Naked Neck
Frizzle
Ameraucana
Old English Game
Modern Game
D'Anver
Japanese
Silkie
Rosecomb
Dutch Bantam
Call Duck
Khaki Campbell
Indian Runner
Cayuga
Buff Duck
Silver Appleyard
Rouen
Pekin
Chinese
African Goose
Embden
Bourbon Red Turkey
Bronze Turkey

Were you one of a couple breeders that at some point were breeding lemon blue Sumatra bantams?

 

[BGMatt]

Were you one of a couple breeders that at some point were breeding lemon blue Sumatra bantams?

I was not, bet those would be gorgeous though!

 

[troyer]

I was not, bet those would be gorgeous though!

They were incredible, with dark faces as well!