If it walks like a duck…
Ducks! Colorful and varied, good producers, effective pest foragers, attractive. Some quack more than others – they call them Call ducks for a reason – but many owners enjoy that sociability. Husbandry is different from that for chickens, but once…
Orpington Chickens: A Royal Breed
Consider the Orpington Chicken Breed. It’s a general purpose breed, useful for both meat and eggs. Orpingtons are large birds, roosters weighing around 10 lbs., hens 8 lbs. Orpingtons lay brown eggs. Estimates of laying on exhibition strains vary, from 50 to…
Icons of the Farm: Rhode Island Red and White Chickens
The Rhode Island Red chicken is the iconic Red Rooster and Little Red Hen of folk tales. In the American Poultry Advocate of May 1912, poultry judge and breeder W. H. Card described the breed as so impressive “that the…
Rhode Island Red chickens: The state bird
Rhode Island Reds remain one of the most popular breeds, for small and for commercial laying flocks. The Rhode Island Red is the official bird of the state of Rhode Island. John Crowther, described in Willis Grant Johnson and George…
Plymouth Rocks: Rock-solid American chickens
It’s the first chicken breed listed in the American Poultry Association Standard: Plymouth Rock. The barred variety, meaning the alternating dark and light lines on the feathers, was the first recognized in the 1874 original and remains the best known….
