WHY ARE RARE BREEDS RARE?

[Rare Feathers Farm]

As I'm staring at my one, lonely Houdan and got to thinking--why are rare?

Why are any chicken breeds rare?

Are they mean?

Are they harder to keep?

Lower fertility rates?

Unthrifty chicks?

Just people that don't know about those breeds?

I do know that out of 12 eggs, it looks like I'll have ONE houdan that hatches? 8 were not developing and the other four all were--and looked right on schedule to hatch...

 

[L&Schickens]

I think a "Rare Breed" is one that is just less popular then others and so there are fewer of them.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Right, I figured that much...LOL

I mean WHY? Why are there less than "normal" breeds?

 

[Wildsky]

I'm assuming there are different reasons for different breeds that are considered rare.
Some might be low fertility, some might be just hard to LIKE.... People perhaps don't want em cause they're UGLY or too expensive...

there really isn't ONE answer.

 

[Psittizen Shikkin]

Maybe it has to do with the usefulness of the bird. Like if the bird is a poor layer or not economical as a meat bird then less likely to be kept.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Yeah...I figured. LOL I'm definately learning the expensive part...I thought maybe less hardy....or lower fertility rates... or maybe they are not good layers?

Houdans aren't ugly! LOL Well, maybe they are, if you don't like polish or crested breeds! LOL

 

[KKluckers]

I think heritage breeds are rare because of hybrids. The good old chicken of yesterday just cant produce like the hybrids of today. Im more into heritage breeds even though they take longer to grow and cost you more money in the long run. To me its worth it. It would be sad to lose any of the heritage breeds. Im really sentimental and just cant bring myself to own a chicken that looks like every other chicken.

 

[L&Schickens]

Six years ago I bought some "Very Rare" Malaysian Serama eggs on e-bay. I got 6 eggs for $75!! I thought that was a deal at the time. Now, I see Serama eggs going for $2 or $3 a dozen on e-bay. They were rare, but got so popular so fast they are no longer rare at all. I am fine with that as I never wanted to make money off of mine, but I am sure there are a lot of people who are bummed their little "Rare" chickens are so over populated and no longer rare at all.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Quote:
Yeah...but what about Faverolles? They are supposedly good layers, friendly, and "dual purpose." Plus they are pretty...

 

[fowlafoot]

There are lots of reasons that a breed can become rare. Anymore most chickens are kept for meat or egg purposes which means that your popular breeds cater to that need. I specialize in rare game breeds. They have a bad rap for being mean chickens and it's unfortunate because it just isn't true. In my experience you are more likely to have a mean RIR rooster than an Asil or Shamo or Malay or Russian Orloff . These breeds were not developed for egg or table purposes so they mature more slowly and lay less frequently. Game breeds have great fertility, are excellent broodies, very hardy and great foragers even as chicks. They are also, in my opinion, more intelligent than many utility breeds. Once some of these breeds became rare it was alomst impossible for them to recover because there just wasn't much stock left in the US and importation is next to impossible.