Why Bother With Heritage Breed Chickens? 

You had me at “I’ve got chicken poop on my hand” 😆

My 9 hens (mixed flock) have produced eggs all winter-yesterday I got 8 eggs!

My australorps lay very well for a heritage breed, even through the winter. We get about 220 eggs per bird even through the winter. if you’re looking to raise broilers, heritage breeds are nothing like a Cornish/Rock cross. All those do is eat and grow. The heritage birds behave completely different

Excellent overview! My almost-5-year-old hens are still consistently laying such that my 12 layers (varying in age from 6 months to almost 5 years) are laying 8-10 eggs every day without artificial light. We have a Buff Orp (mama hen), a Wyandotte, some Reds (either RI or NH - I don't remember which), and three that are half Orp (I'm 95% confident), half Australorp (only one rooster at the time). My ducks, on the other hand, have been on strike since Thanksgiving.

Heated dog bowls are the shizz for chickens winter watering need;) Tractor supply sells a nice one

I concur after a decade of many breeds. This years Lavender Orpington's are real nice

See that this post is a couple years old but was very informative. I just watched another homesteader in Michigan that discussed the problem you did early in your video about water freezing. He filled a small water bottle with a little bit of salt and water and placed it in the rubber bin. Didn't keep the water from freezing but he said it did slow it down . . You might have already discovered this but thought I would share. . . Happy Homesteading and thanks for the information on chicken breed :)

I was given some American Bresse chicks along with some Cornish cross meat birds and I took way too long to butcher so the Bresses legs turned blue and they started laying eggs at 4.5 months. I think people should look into these French birds a little more. They seem like a very good heritage breed for a small homestead.

Great Job! Very thorough. If you've been to our channel you know we love Orpingtons and we are breeding them for color "cuteness". They are an all-around, pretty-good at everything bird. We've never looked at feed consumption and you've given us "food for thought" (lol)! One thing you didnt share was if you use a heat source in the winter. We are zone 6 and it gets cold. Our Orps do well even without a heat source .....though egg-laying does shut down. Thanks!

I keep both, I keep ISA Browns as my commercial/hybrid, egg laying machines. But since I know they do not live as long or lay as long, I keep heritage hens as well. Also, a big factor of mixing the two, I buy pullets, but I know the commerical/hybrids you cannot breed, since they will have only sickly offspring, so I like having heritage breeds around incase SHTF and I need to breed my own chicks.

We just started raising chickens and got buff orpington and black australorp hens and an autrolorp rooster.. There great and lots of fun.. Not old enough to lay yet but really looking forward to it..

great discussion Jack! We like heritage breeds as much for the look as anything else! Also enjoy that they lay longer/later in their life, generally.

I really like the idea of a mixed flock,a bit of this and a bit of that.

Here is an idea we just started throwing around... in order to keep track of our chickens age and egg production, we are thinking about buying all the same breed of chicken for one order. The next time we order, we would completely change the breed so we would instantly know, just by looking at them, how old each chicken is. Right now we have a large mix and it is sometimes difficult to know which chickens are old and not laying anymore. I don’t know... just a thought.

My Isa Browns have laid 1 egg a day since they started laying. But I think they are high egg producers, short life span. We just got Welsummer chicks I'm looking forward to having that mix. My parents had 2 road island reds live 9 years and 1 laid eggs till she died! Chickens are amazing.

So happy i found your channel!! Love from southern NH

Regarding cold hardiness, my first experience with chickens was buff brahma and Rhode island reds. I just bought what the feed store had that day. I thought the buffs would be hardy in the winter because of the feathers on their feet to keep them warm. Turns out those feathers must hold moisture or something, because I have had a few of those birds get frost bite on their feet. Other than egg eating, I have had zero trouble with the Rhode island reds. The egg eating was my own fault. We are in Kentucky.

Loved this! I’ve got several heritage breeds that are chonky enough for dual purpose as they “lay off” haha, and a couple hybrids (Whiting True Blue and Whiting True Green) that lay like nobody’s business! I think it’s nice to have both!

Great discussion, thank you.

As a child when I was in charge of keeping the chickens and turkeys I noticed an extreme difference between the commercial (Cornish cross) broilers and the various heritage breeds we had... The commercial ones were just poor quality health wise I had to cull alot of them for having weird legs that would twist... They were so dirty you could clean everything come back I. The evening and poop everywhere. I've never really seen poop on the heritage ones the broilers though omg. I don't know if we just got the chicks from a terrible places but broilers are disgusting is what stuck with me

Stumbled onto one of your videos and have now watched many more. Thanks for the great content!

Great information! Thanks for the video!

Funny blooper Jack 😉, great info also 👍🏻

Good info. I've had turkey hens 8yrs old still producing eggs . Heritage breeds seem more suited to homestead settings . They also seem to have more predator awareness . Have a great day 😎👍

getting ready to buy my homestead thanks for all the info really interested in heritage pork and polutry

Thorough breakdown, Jack! Lots of good chicken info here.

Most of my chickens are heritage breed. I just have chickens for eggs. I like having a variety of breeds.

Great video!👍

Great video. Sharing to my farm page 😁

Nice coverage on the topic of what type of breeds to select. Your flock looks very good. You must have a nice array of hues on their eggs. Some people like a variety of breeds by the color eggs they lay. They are all so beautiful and I am always amazed at the different colors and the sizes of the eggs! Perhaps that's why the hens do the egg song before or after laying an egg to herald its arrival! 🤣

I breed polish and they’re a very delicate breed... But so cute 🥰 But I’m looking to get better egg layers and a breed that handles hot humid summers.

Great info.

Really good information here. I love heritage chickens, though I do keep some ISA Browns, Smokey Pearls and Sapphire Gems. My favorites in the flock are still my Barred-Rock, my Gold Laced Wyandottes and my White Leghorns are good because I do appreciate that pure white color...I guess it isn't for everyone to get white chickens, but, most people think of white chickens when they think of chickens, at all. Thus, my family likes them the best.

Great video, thank you.

Thank you, very informative 👍

I have some Partridge Chantecler pullets and they are laying in the winter without lights, so some will lay all winter, perhaps not as much as they would with lights.

I run a mix as well all are great in there own way the white leghorns are awesome for egg production a little bit flighty but a good bird. The best feed to egg ratio of any other breed if I’m not mistaken. But for temperament it’s hard to beat the black stars ( commercial) or the speckled Sussex ( heritage) I run other breeds but those breeds stand out the most to me

you chickens are very pretty and cute, my polish was stupid, she got hit by a hawk it sat on the trellis right above her head and she did not see it, I had to rescue her, next time I was not there fast enough to save her, so if I ever get them again it will have to a non free range situation.

Yes, Look for Good mom Chickens, Ameraucanas, Wyandott, here in Alaska, Black chickens Are not as Targeted by Hawks Because they Look Like Ravens, Thankyou

Truth!

Firstly, Thank you very much for taking the time to share this. What are you thoughts on the Production red chicken hens? Basically two heritage breed chickens bred together. Not sure if this would classify as a commercial chicken or a hybrid?

YHVH Bless You

My favorites was red sexlinks , black sexlinks , White leghorn , brown leghorns , buff orpington and speckled sussex . My least favorite was black australorps because 80% of the hens spent more times broody than laying . I do not have chickens right now , but have had over 45 years of having and raising them . I switched to full time quail instead . Better feed conversions and a bigger demand for meat, eggs and chicks.

Does anyone know about the Belgian malines? I read a very intresting article about them they seem to be underestimated!! Any personal experience??

Heritage Chickens for egg laying or for meat are Not used by commercial farms For good reason. They are in it for the money and they can do better. And you can too. But, you can get a heritage breed that dies very well for egg laying, less well for meat.

personally I believe in heritage breed's

I don't know how you are out there with no mittens or gloves on considering how cold it has been.

You have a spectacular looking flock. If you don't mind me asking what hatchery do you order your chicks from? Great looking flock! I just subscribed to your channel. It is great!

Hi guys. Hey Jack, since you decided to squat down and lay your hand oh so gracefully into the poop, can you tell us if the heritage breeds' poop is any different than domestics? Hahahaha... I was rather impressed that you didn't go straight to "Shakra Turtle" position and yes that is a yoga position. :) For reals, nice video. Thanks for sharing. Love what you guys are doing. ~M&E~

I have one that is 8 years old and still lay

Hi

I only have 8 chickens, I live in town. I have 2 lavender orpentingtons, 3 black sex links, 3 rhode island reds. After 1 year 7 ganged up on 1 rhode island red and almost pecked it to death. She is now in her own coop and run. Now the gang has started pecking on the largest chicken a black sex link. I'm going out today to build it a coop and run. What's up? I'm going crazy! I tried after the red one healed up twice to put her back with the flock at night when they were all asleep and they started pecking her right away again. Is there anything I can do? Am I doing something wrong? I live where the winters are very cold and the summers extremely hot. This is why I picked these chicken breeds. I even give them a heat lamp during the coldest nights when temps reach 30 the light goes on and stays on until the temps come back up to 31.

You wanted pretty eggs and I just bought what was available lol

3:16 get errr get errr hmm hmm hmm

Another question...I have heard that Rhode island Reds are extremely aggressive and down right mean. Any truth to this? Also I notice you have Buff Orpingtons in your flock. Are they still broody like they were in the past? Just curious. Thanks.

You have no problems with predators with the chickens out in the open ?

3:50

Notification squad

Put some gloves on!! Lol great video though.

See...I enjoy companion chickens. Sex links only live about six years. Hoping for a longer lived chicken, I've been getting heritage chicks and raising them.....but so far, no luck on finding a FEMALE. It's getting to be a chore to care for and raise chicks that are going to be in someone else's soup pot. Unless I can buy DIRECTLY from a breeder who knows his breed....I'll stick to sex links. I've raised too many roos. Yes....I do a wing check, a tail check, a comb/spur check......(it's so much easier just to look for balls.) but chickens give you no clue. Lol....I've got chicken poop on my laptop... The chickens were raised with our german shepherd, and they go out, and come in....with him. He's a good boi. (he seems to enjoy having a job) In the past, mine have laid nearly until their deaths. Yes, year two.....sometimes as many as two eggs in 24 hours. That's superproduction and they can't do it for long. The more eggs they lay, the closer they are to death.....so....I've been looking for a hen who only rarely lays eggs.

It's not Legern it's spelled Leghorn. Don't you know how to spell? You didn't talk about meat chickens or meat and egg(duel purpose) chickens at all. Many people want chickens that are better for eating with good egg production but not the best egg production. Like, eat the roosters and use hens for egg production and or raising new chicks. Chickens for meat is a big part of why people keep chickens and you missed it. Keeping chickens for a sustainable meat and egg production is also a big part of why people keep them and you missed that too. Thanks for the winter video. Not enough winter chicken keepers out there willing to make a video for others to see. I like them. Nice try though. Egg Production - Meat Production - Meat and egg Production - Taste - Looks for egg and chicken - Winter weather chickens - Warm weather chickens - Pets/handling - Free range - Confinement - are all reasons and things to consider when choosing a chicken breed or breeds. You never really answered the question. Why bother with Heritage breed chickens. Yes, why bother with Heritage breeds if all you want is lots of eggs? Why bother with Heritage breeds if you don't care what they look like? Why bother with Heritage breeds if you don't want to eat them? Why bother with Heritage breeds if you don't want a sustainable flock? Why bother with Heritage breeds if you just want to buy chicks at the hatcheries when you need more birds? Before you pick a chicken breed or breeds, you must first decide and consider what you want them for and where you live, freezing vs hot weather. These decisions can cut down your choices of breed considerably. Not all chickens taste the same when you eat them or as tender. Not all chicken breeds will raise there own young. Many things to consider and it all depends on what you want out of them. It helps to know what all the breeds can do, or capable of, and best at. For me I have to have chickens that will with stand an unheated coop up to 50 below 0 with the wind chill where waterers freeze within minutes . Also I want to eat them, have great taste, have all the eggs I need for myself, family, relatives and friends. So, you can see how that limits my choices if you know chicken breeds. No Legerns Leghorns here. I thought legerns were those long socks women put on there legs? LOL.