Peacocks are recognized globally for their amazingly iridescent, colorful feathers. Plus they have special links to specific religious and cultural beliefs. But the bird specie’s name is really peafowl. Peacocks are male peafowl with their magnificent-fanned-tail displays for courting season. Dullish in appearance, the females are peahens, and the babies are peachicks.
Peafowl may be feral or domesticated, are popular in zoos, and even roam urban areas. On some farms, they even serve as guard animals. However, they are unique birds, and consideration of their needs and personalities is integral when deciding whether or not they will successfully relocate and adapt to a specific environment. But one successful relocation story comes out of Oklahoma.
A Rehoming Tale
A county sheriff called up Gloria and Chester Hocker 20 years ago to ask if the couple would round up a group of escaped peafowl running loose in a small town. The birds were free-roaming neighborhoods, damaging property as they went. Their sharp talons scratched cars when the birds jumped on them.
The Hockers own Chester’s Party Barn and Farm in Piedmont, Oklahoma. An over-25-acre farm, the rural location is home to 18 animal varieties. Even though the venue doesn’t rehome animals, the sheriff asked the Hockers to make an exception.
“Rounding them up was interesting,” said farm manager Jasie Dinkel. “You have to catch them at night, when you have an element of surprise in the darkness, and they are in one location roosting and sleeping. Our crew used fishing nets to catch them one at a time.”
Team Chester integrated the peafowl into their popular agri-tourism venue. Some of the 13 have now passed away due to old age, but the farm currently has two peacocks and one peahen. (The peahen was hatched on the farm.)
At Chester’s, the peafowl are docile with no issues around people. As well, they cohabitate with chickens, roosters, turkeys and ducks in a 400-square-foot area with lay boxes. They have outdoor areas to scratch and roll around in the dirt for dust baths, plus at least three levels of roost—including ledges, poles and rungs—for added height to their enclosure. Like chickens, the peafowl roost on almost anything off the ground.
Chester’s is a petting zoo, and visitors easily see the peafowl up close, and pet and feed them. But the birds’ enclosure is made so the peafowl cannot leave. So, although the other birds may get to free graze on the farm, the peafowl have to stay at home base.
“Our peafowl cannot totally free roam for their safety from predators, cars, and the risk of them getting loose and causing nuisance situations for our neighbors,” Dinkel said. “You can train most chickens to a home area. But our peafowl are not like chickens in that way. If they get out, they are gone. Perhaps some other farms may be able to train them to stay close, but we have not been successful.”
Housing & Keeping Peafowl
Chester’s birds reside in a barn stall with an open-air side accessible through a doggy-style-bird door. One side is walled. The third and fourth sides are open to the barn’s interior, which is perfect during cold months as they are kept out of the wind, rain and snow. The crew monitors their water so it is fresh and unfrozen. For added comfort, the crew pampers them with extra bedding, such as straw, when crazy Oklahoma blizzards hit the area.
As ground feeders, peafowl eat pesky insects, small mammals, reptiles and scorpions. As well, official grub time at Chester’s is smorgasbord style, and the whole gang chows down together. The crew feeds all the birds using a basic poultry feed with a mix of laying pellets, hen scratch and crushed corn.
On a rotation system, the crew gives them multiple aids in their water such as dewormers and multivitamins, plus apple cider vinegar—a natural dewormer that aids in digestion.
“They may be the easiest animals on our property to care for,” Dinkel said.
Known to run almost 10 miles per hour, or 16 kilometers per hour, peafowl are prey for predators larger than them. In Oklahoma, those includes skunks, coyotes, raccoons, foxes and more.
Although they can make good pets, peafowl are big and pesky, and they can be destructive to farm crops, gardens and property (including cars). They’re also very loud, especially in the morning, and produce a lot of feces.
Peafowl are very social and live in groups. They can’t fly very far andneed places off the ground to roost, sleep and escape predators. They tend to live in tropical regions with high humidity and rainfall, as well as arid regions with low rainfall.
However, they can sometimes adjust to various environments. There are several types of peafowl, and not all types get along well with people and animals.
Jewelweed is a very fun herb to introduce to people on a plant walk. It gets its name (depending on whom you ask) from either the delightful flowers hanging beneath the green leaves like tiny jewels or from the way that tiny dew droplets shimmer like jewels on the tops of the leaves.
Impatiens capensis is orange flowered, while impatiens pallida, a larger and yellow flowering species, is just as gorgeous. Some also call it spotted touch-me-not for those impatiens-typical seeds that explode when touched (a very fun garden activity for kids).
You can demonstrate a silvery, jewel-esque shine by dipping the underside of a leaf into some water and swirling it around while submerged. This is a useful identification tool and also beautiful. Plenty of other plants have this quality, but jewelweed takes the cake with its fish-like multi-colored glimmers.
You can find it near streams, and it is a commonly associated remedy for poison ivy. As it likes to grow in similar environments to poison ivy, one may hear folks say you can always find a jewelweed remedy near where poison ivy grows. I’d say they both love wet shady spots, but the ivy thrives in many other places, too.
A Note About Poison Ivy
Use jewelweed only externally, as a wash. It contains soapy molecules called saponins that can bind to urushiols (a rash-inducing oil that seeps into one’s skin from plants). I’ve known people to crush fresh jewelweed into their sandals as a way of preventing poison ivy oils as they crash through the trails where it cannot be avoided.
I would never recommend crashing through any poison ivy, as it is most often found growing where land has been too often trodden. And anyway the threat of rash alone is reason enough to respect the ivy saying, “Stay away, people!”
One of my teachers called this plant sister ivy, to give more respect to this warden of abused places. If one has the displeasure of being forced to eradicate poison ivy, I highly endorse a practice of calm intention and communication with the plant first followed by a good wash with lots of soap and several rinses of cold water.
A Remedy for Poison Ivy
Intentionally treading where poison ivy grows is never a good idea. But on a dense plant hike you might not always see the warnings hidden or be able to avoid it.
When you come into contact with poison ivy, it’s always a good idea to do the cold wash as soon as you notice your skin has contacted the plant. A rule of thumb is to wash about a half hour before the oils have seeped in enough to cause a rash, but I prefer less than five minutes!
In the woods, however, without soap handy, jewelweed is our friend. I crush it up with cold water—usually easy to find as jewelweed loves to grow by the creeks—and do several rinses to be safest.
A Beneficial Forage
I also bring jewelweed home and make a (non-potable) tea, which I put it in the freezer to have on hand for the whole year. It’s not only helpful for preventing and soothing poison ivy rashes, but its soapiness can help wash as well as soothe the skin during many uncomfortable events involving heat, stings or wounding.
A tea can be made with a few large handfuls or as much as you can cover with water. Use the whole above-ground part of the plant, including leaves, stems and flowers. Jewelweed is said to be especially potent when flowering.
Chop the plant coarsely and pour boiling water over it. Let it steep until cool, strain, and freeze or refrigerate. This herbal preparation will be a deep reddish tint, and the fresh juice will often leave a red stain on your skin. The stain, and the slimy soapy feeling you sense as you express the juices of the freshly crushed plant over your skin, will help you assess when you’ve thoroughly rinsed.
You can combine jewelweed with other herbs such as plantain, yarrow and corn silk to make a medicated wash for irritated skin issues like rash, bug bites and scrapes. It is soothing and cooling, but, again, don’t drink tea or eat the leaves.
Identifying Jewelweed
As mentioned jewelweed flowers can be orange or yellow. The yellow flowering jewelweed is larger and common along our larger Kentucky River banks, with much larger leaves and taller plants. The orange flowering jewelweed tends to thrive in the smaller creeks, hiding in woodlands and rocky hillsides around ephemeral streams.
It will sow itself happily in a shady garden. I like to let jewelweed grow around my porch steps so that our legs brush by it everyday. It is happy as a “cut and come again” herb, forming new branches and flowers easily when pruned respectfully. The flowers are absolutely delightful and worthy of long observant gazes.
Jewelweed, especially the orange flowering variety, is also a favorite of hummingbirds, so we get to observe these tiny birds up close visiting the patches among the trees on our hillside.
Dry Some Jewelweed for Later
Since a fresh decoction will only last at most a week in the fridge, you can dry jewelweed and make your tea when needed (although the fresh plant is considered most potent and useful).
To dry, wait for the plant to flower to harvest, then hang it in bunches in a paper sack out of sunlight at ambient room temperature with good airflow. It’s ready to be placed into storage containers when it breaks (without crumbling to dust) when pinched.
Good dried medicinal jewelweed should retain its dark green-to-reddish hue while. If it turns too dark and appears black, your jewelweed has oxidized and is no longer good. Similarly, if it has dried too slowly, it will take on a pale brownish-green color, which is also not good.
As always, be sure to have a trained botanist confirm your identification before harvest and use. And for best medicine be sure to sit still long enough to appreciate the beauty of this jewel of a plant before you smash it to bits on your ankles.
If you live in a neighborhood, fencing is what defines your yard from your neighbors. When you live on a farm, fencing is much more than a property divider. Farm fencing will keep livestock in and predators or thieves out. It protects your crops, lets you rotate your animals from pasture to pasture, and creates a safe haven for you and your herd.
Fencing also the one part of a hobby farm that often requires the most attention. That’s why the development of e-fences or smart electric fencing is so important.
The Challenge of Farm Fencing
When I was new to hobby farming, I thought my current fence was more than enough. It was a rusty mesh fence about 4 feet high, and it had a small gap that ran under the entire length of my property. Some areas had the addition of barbed wire, others had nothing at all.
I thought my biggest challenge was keeping my dog from digging under it and escaping. I was wrong.
It wasn’t until I added livestock and my fence was really tested that I realized how badly it stood up to actual use. Case in point? I had to chase my chief tester and head cow Mable down the road a time or two. If I had an e-fence or smart electric fencing, I would have known the weakest fence links long before Mable found them.
What Is a Smart Electric Fence?
A smart electric fence is fencing that connects to your home’s Wi-Fi network. It uses different sensors, cameras and other devices to monitor your fencing. You can place your smart electric fence anywhere on your property, move it around to create new boundaries or create a virtual paddock for your cows or horses.
Smart electric fencing works by connecting a smart energizer to fence posts with sensors. The energizer connects to an app you can view to see or change the voltage, find out whether the fence is online, or set a potential alarm when the fence is disconnected. Some types of smart electric fencing will connect up to 6 miles of fencing so you can cover a large part of your hobby farm.
A Smart Electric Fence Can Alert You To Animal Escape
One of the hardest parts of having a hobby farm is how you need to spend a lot of time reacting to situations. Take Mable for example—I had no idea she had pushed through the fence until she trotted past my front gate and I saw her. The rest of that day, and many days after, was spent fencing. I’m now someone who could really appreciate the alarms built into a smart electric fence.
If something or someone breaches your smart electric fence, you’ll receive an alert on your phone. You can also set the fence to prevent breakouts automatically by enabling an alarm. Some types of smart electric fences also have lights and sirens built in, and the noise and lights could prevent your animals from wanting to approach the fence before you can fix it.
This type of deterrent could help prevent thieves from scaling your fence or thinking your property is an easy target for theft.
You’ll also find smart electric fences with cameras that monitor the area wirelessly. No matter where you are, you can stay visually connected to your farm and fenced areas just by opening up the app on your phone and looking around on your cameras.
Smart Electric Fencing Is Part of a Smart Farm Plan
Smart electric fencing is gaining in popularity. Given that it prevents your livestock from leaving and safeguards your property, it’s one of the best additions you can make to a hobby farm.
The time it could save in fence inspections and repair could be substantial, especially if you, like me, have a few cows or other livestock that make it their life’s purpose to always test out your fences.
If you want to farm, it is very important to define what this means clearly. You need to select enterprises for your farm and organize them for profitability and resilience. Here’s what I mean.
Farming, as a concept, carries a broad range of meaning today. To some farming means hundreds of acres (or more), large tractors, and commercial cropping or livestock management for wholesale. For others it means intensive production of niche crops and animals for direct sale through farmers markets and other venues. And for still others, farming simply conjures up images of life on the land, growing your own food.
Despite their differences in scope, each of these concepts involves the production of food. And they all require definition from the get-go for new farmers.
Set a Holistic Goal
When you decide to farm, be very upfront with yourself and list out your goals clearly. “I will farm commercially” or “I will hobby farm for fun” are too-vague statements. A better goal statement would be, “I will grow 30 acres of buckwheat and a 1-acre market garden, and raise small livestock like chickens for meat and eggs.”
The more definite the statement, the better the holistic goal. A holistic goal is a series of statements that define exactly your farming life over the decade it takes to establish and meet the goal.
Give Yourself Time
That’s right, it takes time to start a farm!
Indeed, most farms can best be understood as going through start-up, scale-up and pro-up phases. I break this down thoroughly in my book The Two-wheel Tractor Handbook. When we understand that we naturally go through these phases and eventually reach a static scale (the point when we really aren’t expanding or changing our production, just fine-tuning it), then we make better decisions at each stage in terms of equipment acquisition, infrastructure construction, business planning, etc.
In a start-up phase, you will often acquire equipment and invest in skill-building. In a scale-up phase, you’ll acquire more land and infrastructure to meet your growing needs. Finally, in a pro-up phase, only very specialized equipment and infrastructure adjustment are made to really fine-tune weak links in the production.
Making a plan for your enterprises at the get-go based on a holistic goal ensures you won’t over-invest in equipment during start-up that is obsolete in scale-up or pro-up phases—for example, buying a tractor that is ideal for less acreage but far too small for your final production acreage. It’s great to know upfront that you want to manage 30 acres in buckwheat for wholesale and rotate your 1-acre market garden every five years into new land.
Farming as an Enterprise
Enterprises are any of the businesses or productions you manage—for example a market garden enterprise, a wholesale grain enterprise and/or a small livestock enterprise. Choose three enterprises and link them through strategic cycles:
outputs (waste, like manure)
inputs (compost for the garden)
seasonally balanced labor (not focusing all your work heavily in spring, for instance)
sharing equipment strategically (when planning for custom work for grains, the tractor for a market garden can be smaller than useful for field agriculture, for example)
Linked together, these strategic cycles can be called a guild enterprise production.
When we design for our enterprises to work together, then we find avenues for success, efficiency and resilience. An example of this would be cover cropping your land in buckwheat to suppress weeds for market garden plots while also gaining a grain yield. You could even grow some of your own chicken feed!
Whether you are commercial or DIY, setting a holistic goal to define everything clearly, selecting enterprises, and planning for them to make a guild of enterprises builds profit resilience. Your farm shows profitability and resilience in the face of socio-economic and environmental change.
This sort of resilience and profitability necessitates knowing where your farm is headed 10 years down the road and building up to ensure there are no weak links in your now and future plans!
It’s finally the time of year we have all been waiting for here in Minnesota: tomato season! Each day I collect armfuls of tomatoes from the gardens and, if I’m lucky, I’ll have some left over at the end of the day. My daughter is a tomato-eating-machine. I’ve had to cut her off multiple times and remind her that I actually want to be able to preserve some of them.
Each summer we water bath can many tomato-based preserves such as Bloody Mary mix, pizza sauce, pasta sauce, salsa and tomato juice.
The recipe I’m sharing today is a very basic recipe for tomato juice. It can be enjoyed as a beverage over ice, but I generally use it as a base for other recipes. It’s convenient to have on hand in a pinch. I often use this juice to make simmer sauces, chili, soups and of course, Bloody Mary mix (if I’m out of my actual canned mix).
Yield: 3 pints
Ingredients
8 cups (5 lbs.) fresh ripe tomatoes, cored and quartered
1/4 cup celery, finely chopped
1/4 cup white onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup carrots, finely chopped
1/4 cup peppers of your choice (bell pepper for mild flavor, jalapenos or hotter for spice)
2 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
If water bath canning, you will also need:
3 tbsp. bottled lemon juice (before water bath canning)
3 tsp. canning salt per jar (optional)
Instructions
Wash tomatoes, remove stems and cores and any bruised or flawed areas. Prepare additional ingredients. In a large non-reactive pot, combine the first six ingredients. Use a potato masher to somewhat break down the tomatoes.
Bring ingredients to a simmer and cook until the tomatoes are more broken down and the vegetables have softened. Remove from heat and use a food mill to remove seeds and skins. If you do not have a food mill, use an immersion hand blender to puree the mixture.
Next, working in batches, use a fine mesh strainer with a bowl or large measuring cup underneath to separate the juice from the solids. Pour the reserved tomato juice into a non-reactive saucepan and bring it to a boil.
Once the juice is hot, ladle into warm prepared jars (canning jars that have been washed and kept warm prior to filling). Leave 1/2-inch headspace (room from the top of the jam to the rim of the jar).
Add lemon juice and salt (optional) to each jar. Wipe the rims of the jars clean and place canning lids on the jars. Screw the rings on the jars until fingertip tight—just snug on the jar, not fully tightened.
Carefully lower the jars into a hot water bath and cover with the lid. Turn the heat to high and, once the water begins a rolling boil, set the timer and process in the water bath for 35 minutes. Adjust cook time for altitude as needed.
Once water bath processed, carefully remove the jars from the hot pot with canning tongs. Place the jars on a towel-lined surface for 24 hours without touching. After 24 hours, remove the jar rings and test to make sure that the lids have securely sealed onto the jars.
Label and date the jars. These preserved jars of food will keep for at least one year in the cupboard. Refrigerate after breaking the seal.
Notes
If you decide to can this juice in a quart jar instead of pints, it is required that you adjust the recipe to include 2 tablespoons of lemon juice per quart jar and water bath process for 40 minutes (or longer depending on altitude).
To enjoy this juice as a bloody Mary, mix in Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder and prepared horseradish when serving.
This recipe has been developed based on the approved methods of the National Center for Home Food Preservation for canning tomatoes. For more information on safe home water bath canning, click here.
For more food preservation recipes, check out Thurow’s books.
The editors of Chickens magazine are always on the lookout for great chicken photos, and in the July/August 2023 print issue they ran a contest titled Shutterclucks.
Above is the winning photo submitted by Lia Bensley of Kittery, Maine,and below you’ll find others chosen and printed in Chickens. Each one includes the name and city of residence of the chicken lover (or lovers) who submitted it.
Got a cool clucker you want to show off? Email us an image of your chicken(s) to chickens@chickensmagazine.com with the subject line Shutterclucks, and include your name and mailing address. The winner will receive a prize from one of our sponsors!
This article originally appeared in the July/August 2023 issue of Chickens magazine.
“Our interest in having a small farmstead started several years ago when we began to feel a huge disconnect between what we were eating and where it came from,” says Clark Green. Green runs the 5.3 acre Green Haven Farmstead in Marysville, Ohio, alongside his wife, Carrie.
Successfully established, Green Haven Farmstead now hosts a troop of animals that includes seven chickens, a couple of goats, and some resident canines and felines. Recent garden hauls include bountiful carrots, tomatoes and raised bed squashes.
We spoke to Clark Green about the usefulness of raised beds and the joy of goats. We also touched on the Hügelkultur method.
When the Greens moved to Florida for three and a half years for work reasons, they discovered that is was “a struggle to find quality local sources for meat, eggs and other produce.” So after moving back to Ohio a couple of years ago, they pledged to “start growing and raising some of our own food.”
“We started with chickens for eggs then added our garden,” says Green.
“Our soil here in Central Ohio is full of clay, and we didn’t want to wait another year to have it amended and ready to plant,” explains Green when asked why raised beds have become a key feature of the farmstead. “The biggest concern we had with raised beds was the initial cost. We wanted to use non-treated wood, but dimensional cedar was incredibly expensive. We opted for cedar fence pickets with cedar 2x4s for some structure.”
“To save some cost on soil and compost and to give a better long-term soil composition, we opted for the Hügelkultur method,” continues Green. “Even using the wood and other yard waste as a base, filling two 4×12 beds that are 2 feet high with organic soil and compost wasn’t cheap. I would suggest for anyone interested in raised beds that you spend time calculating your materials and costs ahead of time. It can add up quickly.”
Five months ago, the Greens added some goats to the farmstead. “We purchased two Boer kid wethers from our close friends as a 4-H project for our daughter,” explains Green. “She named them Mocha and Latte.”
Originally, both goats were intended to be sold at the local county fair. “But our daughter instantly fell in love with Latte, the smaller of the two,” says Green. “He’s like a puppy dog trapped inside a goat’s body. Since it was obvious that he would be coming home from the fair with us, we made arrangements to purchase a young doe, Lily, from a 4-H friend.”
“Goats have very unique personalities and bring us a lot of joy,” says Green, describing the impact of the resident ruminants on the farmstead.
“They’re relatively easy to take care of and they’ve helped our daughter gain a better understanding of animal stewardship. Neither my wife nor I grew up on a farm, so goats were a natural next step of animals to add to our farmstead.”
When it comes to the rewards of running a family farmstead, Green says that “being directly connected to your food source by growing or raising it is extremely rewarding.”
Additionally, Green explains that, as the family has embraced the farmstead, they’ve spent more time together outdoors. This, in turn, has “helped us teach our daughter about hard work and the importance of knowing where your food comes from.”
It’s a bucolic scene. A green pasture dotted with a rainbow of happy poultry scratching the ground and pecking for food to their hearts’ content. The hens chatter contentedly, and roosters crow when the mood strikes. The chickens might be jet black, brown, buff, gray, bronzish-red or a mix of other feather colors and patterns. But all are striking in appearance and fascinating to watch.
A basket full of naturally tinted eggs—brown, cream, green, blue and white—attracts neighbors to the farm for their weekly dozen. A local farm-to-table restaurant buys all the meat—prized for its flavor—that the farmer has for sale.
The poultry mentioned in this scenario could all be rare breed chickens on the Conservation Priority List of The Livestock Conservancy, a national organization with a specific mission: “To protect America’s endangered livestock and poultry breeds from extinction.”
In the commercial poultry world, white is the color of choice whether they’re laying hens or broilers, ducks, geese or turkeys. Yet, for poultry enthusiasts, many other breeds to choose from exist, offering varied options in color and form and valuable genetics in danger of being lost.
Value of Diversity
Today’s animal agriculture is dominated by just a few breeds in each livestock species, admittedly because those outshine the rest in efficiency of meat, milk or egg production. In dairy cattle, the black and white Holstein cow stands easily above the rest in volume of milk produced.
But according to Chad Dechow and Wansheng Liu, researchers at Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, nearly all of today’s Holstein male pedigrees trace back to two bulls from the 1960s. What if something goes awry with those bloodlines?
A similar dilemma faces some breeds of poultry, beef cattle, sheep and goats, swine and even equines. A May 2019 United Nations Biodiversity Convention review estimated that 30 percent of the world’s livestock breeds were in danger of extinction and that six breeds were lost every month. The same report stated that 75 percent of the world’s food supply comes from only 12 plants and five animal species, illustrating how loss of biodiversity could intensify human food insecurity.
“Each breed represents a piece of genetic diversity for the species,” says Jeannette Beranger, senior program manager at The Livestock Conservancy and a poultry fancier working to preserve the Crévecoeur chicken breed. “When we lose a breed on our Conservation Priority List, we lose diversity we can’t get back because animals that were used to create the breed no longer exist.”
Courtesy of Greenfire Farms
Beranger says that the traits carried on those genes can be in the form of mothering ability, fertility, disease resistance, flavor and so much more. Conserving these genetics ensures they will be available should they be needed later. As American agriculturist and U.S. Special Envoy for Global Food Security Cary Fowler put it: “We can’t simply look in a crystal ball and see what genes we will need in the future.”
David Adkins, the American Poultry Association secretary, licensed poultry judge and breeder of White-Faced Black Spanish chickens (which are TLC listed as “threatened”), agrees. “One problem you have when there are so few birds of a particular breed is trying to maintain a big enough gene pool that they don’t become so inbred that they basically stop being able to reproduce.
“They may still lay eggs, but the fertility goes to nothing.”
When researching, it’s important to understand how the words “rare,” “standard-bred” and “heritage” are applied when it comes to describing poultry breeds.
Rare breed chickens are simply that: breeds that are scarce or endangered.
The APA calls their recognized purebreds “standard-breds,” which means they’re bred to a standard of perfection, a written description of the ideal male and female of each individual breed. APA standard-breds include many breeds with a long history of being bred in America, whether they were developed here or imported many years ago.
With a few exceptions, most of the endangered poultry breeds on the TLC’s Conservation Priority List are also breeds recognized by the APA. Beranger explains that some TLC-listed “landrace” breeds (regionally developed and adapted to the conditions of that area) aren’t APA-accepted to date. Cotton Patch geese are an example.
The word “heritage” is often associated with rare breed chickens and livestock and may be confusing. Synonyms and definitions of the word include:
traditional
legacy
passed down from generation to generation
a traditional brand or product regarded as emblematic of fine craftsmanship
While these may all apply to endangered poultry breeds, make sure to understand how the term heritage is being used in livestock advertisements. Is it simply a marketing tool or does it mean something specific in terms of the animal’s bloodlines? When TLC uses the word on their website it means “rare or endangered standard-bred poultry,” according to Beranger.
Also, some of these legacy breeds exist in sufficient numbers, so they aren’t on the TLC’s Conservation Priority List. And, some recently imported rare breed chickens available in the U.S. aren’t APA-recognized because the process to admit them hasn’t yet been completed.
Reasons to Raise Rare Breed Chickens
In addition to doing good work by preserving genetics, raising and marketing these traditional breeds gives the producer a chance to spotlight value-added traits such as enhanced flavor of the meat and eggs and the novelty of additional egg colors. If they wish to market breeding stock, they can tout the beauty and virtues of their favorite breed.
For the competitive-minded or those who want feedback on the progress of their breeding program, exhibiting at shows is a great way to fulfill those goals and have fun socializing at the same time. Rare breed chickens can make great youth projects for 4-H, FFA and APA Junior Shows and even be cherished family pets.
Dave Anderson of Fillmore, California, is a past president of the APA and TLC board member.He finds the breeding and exhibiting of standard-bred poultry to be very rewarding in many ways.
“There is a certain satisfaction in continually trying to create a more perfect bird via selective breeding and also in knowing that you are helping to keep some of the old, rare breeds prospering,” he says. “Another very important aspect of the hobby is the life-long friendships developed throughout the years with people who share your interests.”
Another long-time poultry breeder, Don Schrider of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, has specialized in Light Brown Leghorns since 1989 and proudly shares that his flock descends from the stock of four top breeders who are all gone now. He was fascinated by his neighbors’ chickens from the time he was 2 years old and started keeping his own poultry by age 13.
Courtesy of Greenfire Farms
“I have always enjoyed watching chickens,” he says. “They interact with each other, are inquisitive, always moving about. Then there is the beautiful plumage in many stunning colors. While they provide food, eggs and meat, they are also exotic birds. I show competitively and enjoy the camaraderie and the competition. For me, the chickens have been a big part of my life for many decades.”
Paul Bradshaw is owner of Greenfire Farms in Havana, Florida, where they raise a variety of rare breeds, some very new to U.S. soil (thus not APA-recognized or TLC-listed) and others that are APA-recognized and on the TLC’s list. They market fertilized eggs, chicks and started adults. Bradshaw notes a huge increase in interest in legacy poultry in recent years.
“The average small-scale chicken owner doesn’t want boring chickens with no survival skills, and that’s the best way to describe modern, commercial strains,” he says. “Heritage breeds are beautiful, hardy and often the embodiment of fascinating history.”
Adkins offers three points to consider for anyone interested in getting started with poultry, whether rare breed chickens or something else.
First, spend time investigating the various breeds and, based on that research, determine which are of most interest. He cautions against trying too many breeds at one time to help sort out preferences without being overwhelmed.
Second, clearly outline your objectives. “Are you just wanting chickens in your backyard for eggs?” he asks. “If that’s the case, any of the hatcheries will sell you some chicks and ship them to you through the mail, and that will be fine for what you want to do. On the other hand, if you think you want to get into the exhibition aspect of things, then spend some time to find a reputable breeder to purchase your birds from.”
Third, plan what equipment and supplies will be needed to keep the poultry healthy, happy and safe. Consider the space needed to raise them, and devise a plan to deal with potential predators.
“Most of the time you can have some chickens loose in the backyard, but if you don’t pen them up at night, it won’t be long before you won’t have any more chickens,” Adkins says.
Selecting a Breed
All interviewees emphasize that it’s very important to obtain a copy of the APA’s Standard of Perfection. It’s the definitive guide to all recognized poultry breeds and varieties and includes many artist representations (of large and bantam chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys and guinea fowl.) All advise reviewing as many other references as possible, too, including books, magazines, websites, hatchery catalogs and videos.
The TLCand APA websites feature lots of useful information including breed descriptions and links to clubs, advice on getting started and poultry care, a glossary of terms and definitions, breeder advertisements and more. The Livestock Conservancy Directory of Rare Breeds and Products Resource Guide and the annual APA Yearbook are places to start looking for birds, too.
They all suggest going to poultry shows to see the various breeds and talk with competitors (when they aren’t busy) as a great way to learn more. Adkins says an easy way to find poultry shows in your area is to look under the “Events” or “Shows” tabs on the APA or breed club websites or go to PoultryShowCentral.com, which has an extensive listing of exhibitions.
Beranger advises to note whether breeders and hatcheries have been inspected and certified by the National Poultry Improvement Plan which is operated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. While the NPIP program is voluntary, she explains that if they’re selling fertilized hatching eggs, chicks or adults, they should participate. “If they’re selling over state lines or competing in shows, legally they have to be. If they have a closed flock and don’t send birds off property, then it’s their choice.”
Look for breeds that match your available resources and wish list by considering the following points.
How much space do you have? Can you accommodate a larger breed or are bantams a better choice for your facility?
A pond or pool is advised for raising waterfowl.
Pay attention to the type of climate that best suits a particular breed. Does your location offer that or would you be better off with another breed built for the weather and terrain in your area?
What is your objective? Do you want to sell meat or eggs? Do you want to raise birds for exhibition and sell breeding stock? Is your goal a hobby flock or a youth project?
Carefully review the temperament and activity descriptions of breeds you’re contemplating to make sure they’ ll work for your situation.
Don’t forget to review local and state ordinances for keeping poultry in your area. If you live in an urban area, you may be restricted on the number of birds and may not be allowed to keep a rooster.
Schrider’s top tips on breed selection: “Try a few birds of several breeds before you make your final choice. Be prepared to pass them along to make room for the breed you love. And take the time to seek out the best possible quality, not the easiest to obtain.”
Bradshaw put the attraction of raising rare breed chickens in a nutshell: “Chickens are the ‘gateway livestock’ for many backyard gardeners and homesteaders looking for an easy way to get into raising farm animals,” he says.
“For many people, the benefit is that their eggs can provide a source of delicious animal protein without slaughtering the animal itself. For me, the attraction is a combination of fantastic looks, entertaining social behavior and, in many cases, the rarity of individual breeds.”
More Information
Conservation Priority List
There are four status classifications for rare breeds on the The Livestock Conservancy’s Conservation Priority List, each designated by a single-letter abbreviation.
Critical (C): Fewer than 500 breeding birds in the U.S., with five or fewer primary breeding flocks (50 birds or more) and an estimated global population less than 1,000.
Threatened (T): Fewer than 1,000 breeding birds in the U.S., with seven or fewer primary breeding flocks and an estimated global population less than 5,000.
Watch (W): Fewer than 5,000 breeding birds in the U.S., with 10 or fewer primary breeding flocks and an estimated global population less than 10,000. Also included are breeds that present genetic or numerical concerns or have a limited geographic distribution.
Recovering (R): Breeds once listed in another category but have exceeded Watch category numbers and still need monitoring.
Marketing Tips
The best marketing strategy for you depends on what you want to market. If you want to sell meat and eggs for human consumption, then the target market will likely be direct to consumers through farmers markets, local advertisements and social media; contacting local restaurants; and often word-of-mouth testimonials from other clients. Make sure to research local and state health department requirements for selling food products.
On the other hand, if you develop a solid breeding program and gain success in showing over time, you may eventually want to market breeding stock through sales of fertilized eggs, chicks and/or young adult birds. In that case, marketing avenues may take the form of breeder advertisements in American Poultry Association or The Livestock Conservancy publications and/or social media and website marketing. Some hatcheries also contract with established breeders to supply them with chicks from various breeds.
Seeking advice from experienced breeders on their marketing and shipping procedures and understanding state and federal laws on the process are must-dos. Also research the need for liability insurance and sales and property tax obligations as any business owner would.
This article originally appeared in the July/August 2023 issue of Chickens magazine.
Moving on down the list of nutritional needs in cattle, in this article we’re taking a closer look at protein. Local farmer and rancher Todd Krispense spoke with us about some of the different sources and forms you can find protein in.
Cattle Protein Needs
Protein requirements can vary between animals. As he pointed out, a lactating cow will require a higher level of protein than a dry cow will. Likewise, if you’re feeding calves, they will also need a higher level of protein than their larger or more mature counterparts, as it is one of the building blocks for bone, muscle and so on.
Some natural sources for protein can include alfalfa, clover, and soybeans (as well as other legumes), Todd notes. But protein can also be supplemented to your cattle in other forms, such as via protein tubs or range cubes/pellets (mainly made from grain byproducts).
During the summer months, we typically haul groups of feeder steers out to pastures in the Flint Hills. There they will spend their days grazing grass and wandering around to their hearts’ content. When the time comes that there is less grass and they need to be brought back home to the farm, the animals will receive range cubes just about daily.
Range Cubes
Range cubes not only supplement protein animals might be lacking in their diet due to the dwindling grass supply, but they help get the cattle more used to and comfortable with walking into the catch pen.
Before you know it, as the pickup enters the pasture and begins to honk, a swarm of bellowing, fly-swatting cattle will cluster around it. They watch eagerly as the range cube bags are torn open. The cubes are gradually dumped into a long line on the ground, and the cattle clump together as they begin munching.
Eventually, the cattle will be gathered up and placed in the catch pen before being loaded on a trailer and hauled home.
Protein in Everyday Feed Rations
While these cubes are helpful for supplementing protein, they’re not used in the everyday feed ration for the cattle back on the farm.
On our farm, Todd shares that in the past alfalfa and soybean meal were used before switching over to distiller grains, which are a byproduct (or co-product) of ethanol. He also noted that brewers grains are another byproduct of beer or alcoholic beverage production. He shared that other examples of byproducts can be found in corn gluten feed (which comes from the production of corn syrup) or soybean meal (that which is left behind when soybeans are crushed in order to produce soy oil).
Todd notes that today distiller grains are mixed right into the feed ration to create what you would call a complete ration—totally combined in the feed box.
As you begin to pursue the appropriate feed ration for your own cattle, it’s important to keep in mind their various nutritional requirements. As Todd points out, it can be helpful to find a good nutritionist to help educate you. Before you jump right in, do a little research of your own so that you can understand some of the basic terms and information that your nutritionist might share with you.
If possible, look for a trustworthy local rancher that would be willing to help you learn along the way. Happy feeding!
I recently saw an old Fordson tractor on display and had to marvel at both the similarities and differences compared to modern tractors. A sign stated the tractor was from 1926, which—as near as I can tell—would make it a Fordson F with a 20-horsepower engine.
Even though it’s approaching 100 years old, there was no mistaking the Fordson F as a tractor. Two large drive wheels in the back, two smaller wheels in the front, the engine mounted in front of the steering wheel…. Truthfully, the Fordson F looked a lot like the John Deere Model 40 and the Massey Ferguson 135.
Some Key Differences
But the differences were striking. Rubber tires were nowhere to be found. Instead, the Fordson F had steel wheels with large lugs for generating traction. I’m sure it would have been a bumpy ride on hard ground, though the wheels looked ready to dig deep for traction. Indeed a bit of reading and research suggests the traction of these old steel wheels can be very good. Maybe even too good, since the slippage of rubber tires can be beneficial in some circumstances.
Another notable difference was the hand crank on the front of the machine to facilitate starting the engine. There was no battery, because there was no electric starter. Muscle power was used to start the engine, and I understand that operating the hand crank could be a difficult and even dangerous endeavor.
Then there was the power take-off (PTO), and I’m calling it a PTO only because it provided power to other implements. The PTO on the Fordson F wasn’t the splined shaft found on the backs of modern tractors and even more recent vintage tractors like the John Deere Model 40 or the Massey Ferguson 135. This PTO was located on the side of the tractor in the form of a spinning cylinder (called a pulley, or belt pulley) to which a belt could be attached to transfer rotational power to an implement.
Historical Value
I’m fascinated by the Fordson F from a tractor history standpoint, but I wouldn’t want to use one for farming. I’m thankful that technological advancements have given us rubber tires, electric starters and splined PTOs.
I suppose it has something to do with what seems “normal” to me. Maybe farmers who have only ever used modern tractors with hydrostatic transmissions would feel the same skepticism about the geared transmissions of the John Deere Model 40 and Massey Ferguson 135.
But in any case, I think we can all be glad at how much progress tractors have made over the last century. And with that in mind, who knows what the next century will bring? Maybe electric tractors will rise to the forefront and farmers of the future will look back on our gasoline and diesel engines and wonder how we ever got along with oil changes and fuel filters.
