Breeding Heritage Chickens: Why Not to Rely on Chicken Hatcheries

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by Adobestock/AndyMellow

Learn about methods for breeding heritage chickens to achieve a hardy and productive flock designed for the modern homesteader.

Many of us who keep backyard flocks are aware that industrial chicken breeds from commercial hatcheries aren’t the best option if we’re hoping to raise self-reliant birds. We prefer sturdier, heritage chicken breeds, capable of free-ranging and foraging much of their own feed. We want breeds that retain natural resistance to disease and climate stresses. We “flocksters” often prefer to harvest meat and eggs from the same flock, so we’re more interested in dual-purpose breeds than in industrial hybrids with either astounding laying or growth rates.

To meet those goals, we choose to raise heritage chicken breeds, expecting they’ll offer the traits that made such breeds popular on homesteads for generations, including longevity, the inclination to forage, immune system integrity, and, of course, reliable production of high-quality meat and eggs.

But industrial breeds are responsible for such a large proportion of the commercial hatcheries’ business that the rearing of heritage breeds has fallen by the wayside. Many heritage breeds have lost the qualities they were originally valued for.

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