Chicken Breeds: Heritage vs Production
Like 3 Dislike 0 Published on 30 Dec 2015
Breeding your own chickens may seem like a good idea but you have to be careful. Think about it, if you had a small tribe of people and you never added to the genetic diversity then you're going to get inbred weird chickens. Humans have done it, think about the British Royal Families of old. You need genetic diversity and some good records of who has mated with who.
I don't breed my own chickens on farm. I'm not an expert chicken breeder. It is easier for me to trust the experts and go through a hatchery then to figure out genetic lines and productivity.
In the zombie apocalypse sure, I'll breed my own flock to keep eggs going, but until then I will go through a hatchery. As for heritage breeds vs production breeds of chickens, it all comes down to what your goals and motivations are.
Are you making a living at farming? Are you planning on making your living farming? Or are you doing it at a backyard scale where chicken aesthetics are as important as getting eggs? Both scenarios are great! And there are benefits to both backyard and production scales.
If you're going to be farming as a business then you need to be focused on production and making money. Chickens can be expensive to feed and care for and you need to cover that cost with selling their eggs or you will have no farm.
My business model has been to raise production breed animals in a healthy and humane manner. I am production minded while balancing that with pampering my livestock and giving them everything I think they need.
For more information visit:
http://web.uconn.edu/poultry/poultrypages/
http://farmmarketingsolutions.com