Heritage Poultry

Heritage breeds of poultry such as the Plymouth Rock Chicken and Dominique Chicken can be found here. These breeds were once an important part of the American homestead but found themselves pushed out in favor of more industrialized breeds. Both breeds can still serve the modern homestead or backyard flock keeper well.

The Dominique chickens are on the Livestock Conservancy's Watch list. The Plymouth Rock is on the Recovery list, as its numbers have improved.

The Dominique and the Plymouth Rock are considered a dual-purpose bird. The hens will produce 250 eggs a year. Young roosters when butchered around 18 weeks provide a nice meaty carcass for the table. Both breeds are relatively easy keepers.  Both Plymouth Rock and Dominique hens raised clutches of chicks this year. Sustainability in the flock at its finest!

While roosters often have a bad habit of being challenging, these have not. I believe it's because I have raised them all from chicks and act in a very calm manner around them.

Have you eaten a farm fresh egg? How about meat from a heritage breed? Both from chickens raised on natural, whole grain diets with plenty of pasture time. Once you get a taste, anything store bought pales in comparison. Here is food our grandparents knew. Here is food that nutures our bodies, minds and souls by getting back in touch with nature. Chickens weren't meant to be raised in cages or force fed antibiotics and highly processed pellets and we weren't meant to consume those products either. 

Continuing down that path, I believe I have successfully developed a feed recipe that is soy free and I’m able to purchase 90% of the ingredients from the local co-op when not direct from other small farmers. My chickens enjoy the benefits of this recipe as well as all the wonderful foods free ranging over acreage provide.

I have recently added American Brese to the flock. This breed is a relative newcomer to the country being imported in 2011. It is a heritage breed from France prized for its meat. I'm trialing it as an alternative to the non-sustainable CornishX. My hope is the Brese live up to the hype and will become a welcome addition to the sustainable offerings here.