Our Greatest Challenge: Breeding a Productive Chicken!

Reader Contribution by Jim Adkins
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Several years ago when we started the Sustainable Poultry Network I never realized what we were up against! All I wanted was to see the breeds of poultry that I loved so much to not disappear! And I realized that for my favorite breeds to not disappear we had to put them back to work! Putting them back to work means they must be productive again; producing meat & eggs and being economically sustainable.

For 50 plus years the historical, heirloom breeds of poultry have been nothing more than “eye candy” birds! Something for people to look at in county fairs, at poultry shows and in their backyards. Just in these recent years I have realized that this is a far greater challenge that is going to take a while to overcome. Take the Delaware chicken as one example; this breed along with the New Hampshire were the top two meat birds in our country until the industrialized, Cornish Cross came along! In its peak of production, the Delaware was ready to process at the growth rate of 12-14 weeks! Since its decline over the last 50 years, we have seen this bird hardly ready to be processed in less than twenty weeks. Let me assure you that is not good for timely economics! We have a great challenge on our hands. With just about every breed of standard bred, heritage poultry, we have work to do. They are not producing like they once were.

Why is this? The primary issue at hand is breeding! Every breed of poultry that our breeders are working with within SPN,  needs improvement when it comes to rate of growth and egg production. 

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