Stepping back into time and preserving pieces of our heritage. That's how we feel around the antiques that we keep in our homes, yards and offices. For many, preserving the past is the most important part of keeping these pieces, and the fact that even in today's modern age, something always drags some of us backwards. Actually, there is no one who, in some way, is not familiar with antiques, either by owning some, reading, going to museums, knowing a collector or visiting the local shop.
But, how well do you know your antiques? Do you know that there are some that are living, breathing and near extinction? Have you seen an antique chicken? Or cow? No, I don't mean a shelf knick nack. These are living, breathing animals. And there are many breeds of cattle, swine, birds, horses, asses, goats and sheep out there, once seen on most any farm or homestead, now fighting for survival. These animals, more commonly known as Rare/Heritage breeds, and are facing demise due to "progress". But fortunatly, small, independent breeders are moving to bring these animals back from oblivion, the author of this article included.
We will be focusing on poultry in this article. The goal of the piece is to strive to give readers a better understanding as to why these animals, bred for years, sturdy, dependable and actually, beautiful to look at, were later considered, "useless" or "undesirable" by large farms and "progressive" corporate farms, and the need to make certain these creatures don't become another extinction statistic.
At one time, there were more than 50 breeds of chickens that could be found throughout the United States. These birds were bred, not for looks, although most are quite stunning , but for life on the homestead and family farm. These birds had to be able to serve the homesteader/farmer well, so many were dual purpose, meaning good for both eggs and meat. Some of these birds were large in stature, such as Jersey Giants or Orpingtons. However, they were slow growers. Others, such as Dominiques, were faster in growth, but smaller in size. Both were fine for eggs or meat, so it would be a farmer's choice.
Turkeys were various shades of colours, but not the over sized, over weight type birds of commercial use today. They were and are of a very nice size, however and unlike the modern commercial breed of today, are able to breed naturally, which was important . Today, only a few breeds of chicken are used total for meat and egg production, and
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