In this episode, we are joined by Backyard Green Films. Our conversation circles around Heritage breeds, why we love them, need to save them, and why we eat them. Our Podcast Guests Include: Hank Will is a business leader, academic, and agricultural practitioner devoted to conservation and small scale, sustainable agriculture. He’s currently the editorial director […]

Marissa Buchanan writes about the importance of genetic diversity for worldwide food security and how she practices breed conservation with her own flocks. Conservation and Genetic Diversity “Conservation” and “poultry” are two words that aren’t always put together by backyard poultry owners. More often, we use words like “rare” or “heritage” to describe breeds that […]

New blogger Traci DeLore shares why she prefers Summer Chicks. I’m no spring chicken – fan, that is. Why Summer Chicks Raising chicks in the summer is absolutely the way to go for me. There’s less mess, easier integration, and better weather. It’s a no brainer. Around me, chick frenzy starts in late February at […]

Second in a three part series. Dr. Jacquie Jacob shares her research on how to effectively use heritage breeds for small-scale meat production operations.  As discussed in Part 1 of this three part series, we ran a study at the University of Kentucky poultry research farm comparing three heritage breeds (Black Australorp, Barred Plymouth Rock […]

One of the most common questions I receive over at the Iron Oak Farm blog is “can I breed chickens that are related to each other?”   The simple answer to that question is yes! And to be honest, you will most likely have success with a batch of healthy offspring.   Breeding chickens can […]

The more I read about breeding the more I realize I don’t know. And with each tidbit of knowledge I give more and more credit to those who are raising high quality heritage breeds and participating in breeding programs. In my last post, I talked about clan breeding which is a breeding system that allows […]

If you are a small flock owner who breeds their own chickens, how do you ensure genetic diversity,  but also maintain the integrity of your heritage breeds? Jennifer Sartell shares useful tips about “Clan mating.”   For the past few years I have been concentrating on raising high quality Buff Orpingtons. When I say “high quality”, […]