Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens (62 page)

Shared tendencies, such as broodiness or the laying of large or small eggs or brown or blue eggs

The ability to reproduce offspring with the same distinguishable characteristics as the parent stock

In other forms of livestock, an animal’s breed is identified by its papers. Chickens have no registry and therefore no papers, so some people argue that chickens have no breeds, only types. On the other hand, until DNA testing and blood typing came along, the papers of a registered animal were based on little more than the honesty of the person who registered the animal, which is no different from accepting the honesty of someone who sells you a chicken.

Some chicken keepers are excited by the challenge of developing new breeds or varieties, but most are content with preserving or improving an existing breed or variety. Some people enjoy working with an established strain; others prefer to leave their mark by developing a unique strain.

A
strain
is a family of chickens having recognizable characteristics that readily distinguish them from others of their breed and variety and the ability to transmit those characteristics to their offspring. A strain is the result of one person’s (or organization’s) vision and is developed by working for many generations with a single family of birds. If you work with a group of chickens so long that other poultry people begin recognizing a bird as having come from your flock, you have developed your own strain.

Every strain belongs to one of five main groups of genetic stock: exhibition breeds, commercial layers, commercial broilers, dual-purpose farmstead chickens, or sport breeds. Each of these groups has little contact with the others, and each carries emphasis on a different set of traits.

In any planned breeding program, a trait that’s important to the breeder’s goal is emphasized. An irrelevant trait is ignored and thus may eventually disappear. Any birds with a detrimental trait would be removed from the breeding flock.

In exhibition strains, emphasis is on traits involving form. In commercial laying and meat strains, emphasis is on function. Dual-purpose and sport strains combine form and function. While their goals differ, owners of dual-purpose and sport strains share two important characteristics:

Both groups maintain low profiles — dual-purpose flock owners because they engage in the quiet business of home meat and egg production, sport-bird owners because they engage in the illegal business of cockfighting.

Both groups take on responsibility for genetic stocks with the greatest degree of sustainability.

Keepers of exhibition and industrial strains have done irreparable damage to the sustainability of the genetic stocks in their care — the former by breeding for extremes in appearance (form), the latter by breeding for extremes in production (function). To understand the degree of damage done, let’s look at nine characteristics that may be important, irrelevant, or detrimental within each of the five basic genetic groups.

Broodiness
— a hen’s desire to hatch eggs — is detrimental to egg production because once a hen starts setting she stops laying. It is irrelevant to meat production because broilers don’t live long enough to reach laying age, although it can be an issue for breeders who produce commercial broilers. It can be a nuisance in an exhibition strain: the more eggs you get from a valuable hen, the more offspring you can hatch and therefore the greater your chance of producing a perfect specimen.

Among sport strains, however, a hen’s purpose is to perpetuate her strain by laying and hatching eggs. And part of the charm — not to mention labor reduction — in keeping a dual-purpose breed is having a broody hen hatch her own chicks, although the tendency toward broodiness varies even among dual-purpose farm-stead breeds. As with industrial strains, breeds that are valued for their superior laying ability tend less toward broodiness than the heavier, broodier breeds.

Fecundity,
or the ability to lay copious quantities of eggs, is all-important in commercial laying strains but of lesser importance among meat strains. In exhibition birds, laying ability would seem important for the production of hatching eggs, but in reality laying ability rates well behind characteristics of appearance, so much so that some exhibition strains have an abysmal track record in the laying department. In most dual-purpose flocks and among sport strains, poor layers are considered freeloaders and are culled so they won’t reproduce more of the same.

Fertility
is important in industrial breeding flocks but irrelevant in layer flocks (which don’t include roosters). It is ostensibly important in exhibition stock, yet inbreeding small populations to focus on conformation leads to fertility loss, as does breeding for extremes of size. In a commercially developed hybrid dual-purpose flock, fertility is irrelevant but is essential for the perpetuation of a dual-purpose pure breed. Among sport birds, fertility is emphasized because a good brood cock makes a good battle cock and vice versa.

Foraging ability
is irrelevant to industrial and exhibition stock, since both are kept in confinement — the former for reasons of labor efficiency and isolation from disease, the latter to protect flesh and plumage. In dual-purpose farmstead flocks, foraging has traditionally been important as a means of maintaining good health and reducing feed costs. Foraging is a significant source
of exercise and nutrition for sport birds, whose owners were among the first chicken keepers to plant special grasses for the grazing pleasure of their stock.

Plumage color
is irrelevant in commercial layers, although most strains happen to be white. In meat birds, white feathering creates a cleaner finished appearance. The greatest variety in feather color occurs among exhibition birds, yet little variation is tolerated within each color variety. Furthermore, standard colors are sometimes contrary to natural tendencies, being derived by perpetually crossing different strains or even different breeds.

In traditional farmstead flocks and among sport strains, plumage color retains its original survival purpose — any color other than white offers camouflage for foragers and setters. Among sport enthusiasts, plumage color also identifies established bloodlines, called breeds in sport circles, but in reality they are different varieties of Old English Game.

Size
is important among all five genetic stocks. For commercial layers, small size promotes efficiency. Among commercial meat strains, emphasis is on large size and unnaturally rapid growth. Exhibition birds must conform to the sometimes-arbitrary standard sizes and weights designated for each breed, with extremes in either direction tending to mitigate against fertility and fecundity. Dual-purpose flocks are, by definition, midsize, as a compromise between laying efficiency and meaty flesh — although the various farmstead breeds cover a broad range from lighter-weight layer types to heavier meaty types. Among sport strains, size relates to agility, 5 pounds (2.25 kg) being considered ideal.

Temperament
takes a backseat to other traits in the selection of industrial strains. As a result, meat birds are prone to panic and piling, and layer strains are notoriously nervous and flighty. Backyard dual-purpose flocks are usually bred for good temperament to enhance the keepers’ enjoyment and ensure the safety of less nimble family members. Among exhibition strains, good temperament is essential, since calm birds show better than flighty ones. Game birds, too, are bred to be good-natured and gentle around people. In show and sport circles, a nervous, flighty bird is referred to as “wild,” in contrast to a calm, gentle bird, which is “tame.”

Conformation,
or type, is important to all five genetic stocks, although it holds the least importance for owners of farmstead flocks. These breeders typically don’t select against variations but rather tend to embrace them, often having a soft spot for the odd or unusual bird. As a result, the greatest diversity in type exists within farmstead strains. Industry, as you would expect, emphasizes strict conformity to traits specific to production, resulting in cookie-cutter layers and peas-in-a-pod broilers. In exhibition and sport strains, strict adherence to type is also an essential trait.

Exhibition promotes the greatest number of overall types but is intolerant of variations within each type, resulting in little diversity within each strain. Developing a strain with good show conformation involves inbreeding and selection, which often leads to loss of fecundity, fertility, and the self-sufficient ability to forage. In addition, the quest for uniqueness in type has allowed certain traits to flourish that would otherwise inhibit survivability. Frizzledness and silkiness, for example, offer less protection from the elements than smooth, webbed feathers, and vision-restricting crests hinder a bird’s ability to get away from predators and to catch mates.

Vigor
is a complex trait that embodies not only resistance to disease but also adaptability to the environment, freedom from lethal genes, and the ability to produce fertile, hatchable eggs. While everyone agrees that vigor is important, the trait is not high on everyone’s selection list.

Broilers need only short-term vigor, since most are dispatched by 8 weeks of age. Texts have been written listing ways to keep unhealthy broilers alive until slaughter. Their health, like that of commercial layers, typically relies more on pharmaceuticals and other means of protection from disease-causing organisms than on inherent constitutional vigor and natural resistance to disease.

Exhibition birds must be hardy to stand up under the rigors of show, yet vigor is too often not a breeding priority. Farmstead flocks tend to have inherent vigor as a result of their longevity — only the strongest individuals survive to the second year and beyond and pass on their vigor to their offspring.

The most vigorous genetic stock is among chickens bred for sport. I saw a particularly awe-inspiring example at a major poultry show, entered by an unwitting sport breeder. The cock — which everyone who had gathered to take a look agreed was the best at the show — was the epitome of alertness and good health, was exceptionally well groomed and well tempered, yet it didn’t stand a chance of winning because its size and type did not conform to the rigid criteria set forth in the
Standard of Perfection
. Its superiority as a representative of its species did not translate well into exhibition.