rare breeds

[Picco]

I would like to start a breeding flock this summer and I was really leaning towards BLR wyandottes but then I was thinking of raising something really rare. I love looking at the foreign varieties of chickens on the feathersite. Does anybody have or know someone who is raising breeds which are not recognized by the APA or has unrecognized varieties of recognized breeds?

 

[prariechiken]

What breeds are you interested in, I'm sure if ya ask someone on here has or knows where to look to find ya some rare breed chickens. I myself have recently been interested in the oriental breeds, and have found more resources on the web than what I thought I would.

 

[dragon]

http://albc-usa.org/cpl/wtchlist.html#chickens
here you will find info, What i want to show is the "SPPA 2006 CRITICAL LIST", BUT ALL I SEEM TO FIND IS THE 1997 LIST.
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/SPPA/SPPACrit.html

SHOULD GIVE YOU A START IN YOUR SEARCH. enjoy

 

[allen wranch]

Henderson's Chicken Breed Chart tells you which breeds are not recognized by the APA or ABA.
http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html

 

[The Laird]

Hi Picco, I have 3 out of the 4 BLR Wyandottes that I ordered fro MM, but as they are only 2 weeks old, I don't know what I have. They only offered straight run. If I end up having two cockerels, I only intend on keeping 1. Would you be intersted in the other, if there is one?

 

[Saltiena]

the murray mcmurray hatchery is't EXTREMELY rare, but it is more than your average sitting hen i don't know that they are the absolute best, but i know that they well known for that so... good luck

 

[deeszoo]

And, when you are thinking about rare, don't forget that some of the breeds we think of as common aren't really common any more. Some are also "common" as hatchery stock, but it is hard to find good quality stock to work with. An example is the good old American Dominique. Non-Production Rhode Island Reds are hard to find, also. Good luck finding your favorite breeds! There are so many deserving breeds out there that need interested people to help preserve. I am having a hard time narrowing down my choices! LOL!

 

[Picco]

Thanks everyone! I guess I will stick with the BLR wyandottes, I will be buying either chicks or eggs this May. I can't wait!

 

[Blisschick]

The BLRW's from Murray McMurray aren't quality breeding stock for show, as they've had gold laced bred back into them. I had some on order, but then cancelled when I found out that I was getting not-so-great stock. I suppose that if you want something to start with, they would be it, but if you want to seriously breed them, you probably need to look elsewhere for your stock. There's a BLRW group on Yahoo that has serious breeders with a lot of good info plus can direct you to those who have breeding stock work messing with.

 

[speckledhen]

Well, for a rare variety within a breed, I'm raising Blue/Black/Splash Orpingtons. Very hard to find Blue Orps and when you do, the chicks and hatching eggs are very expensive! I can't seem to get enough hatching eggs to make up an entire flock. I have a pair that are 12 weeks old and just now hatched out three more chicks. The Black color was the original Orpington color, but now you can hardly find anything except the Buffs. And Splash is not recognized by the APA in shows, so maybe that would be something to breed. In this picture, you can see my Blue cockerel:

If you breed a Blue to a Blue, you get 50% blues, 25% black and 25% splash. Always a surprise, what pops out of each egg.