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 […]

 Christine Heinrichs shares how living history farms in the U.S. preserve heritage poultry breeds. Stay tuned for her upcoming article on British living history breeds, such as the Dorking. A flock of chickens brings a historic site to life. Visitors can’t resist the allure of chickens clucking in a run. At living history sites, historically […]

Want to know more about chicken breeds?  Enjoy this excerpt from The Backyard Field Guide to Chickens by Christine Heinrichs. Stay tuned for her June article Guineas Create a Sensation here at Community Chickens. The Mediterranean Breeds Mediterranean breeds are associated especially with Italy and Spain, warm climates with long histories of chicken breeding. They’re […]

When you have given time, effort, sweat, and love to your urban homestead, how do you leave it? Rachel Cunning shares her story of building up her homestead, having to leave what she created, and planning for the next home. I am standing in the driveway of our suburban homestead. The wind blows lightly through 20 […]

Dave Holderread has raised and studies ducks for 50 years.  He taught applied poultry science in Puerto Rico before he and his wife Millie established one of the largest genetic stocks of domestic waterfowl in the world on their farm in Oregon. This excerpt about the need to preserve rare breeds is from Storey’s Guide […]

Learn more about the history of backyard chickens. For new chickens keepers and  experienced ones alike, here’s an excerpt from Amy K. Fewell’s The Homesteader’s Natural Chicken Keeping Handbook. You can read more of Amy’s work in The Homesteader’s Herbal Companion Chicken History and Terminology Chickens have taken over the world! We can find chickens in most […]

Photographs generously provided with permission from Greenfire Farms. Visit their website for more information on acquiring this breed. When I first heard the breed name “Deathlayer” I thought it sounded like something out of a Star Wars movie. I also had to do some research to see if this was, in fact, an actual breed. And […]

The hardest part about writing this post was narrowing down the photo selection. I took over 200 photos while visiting the Ohio National Poultry Show in Columbus, Ohio on November 11th and 12th. Eventually, I had to make a conscious decision to put my camera away and just enjoy the moment. But it was all […]

This Breed Profile is proudly brought to you by The Livestock Conservancy! The Crèvecoeur chicken is one of the oldest of the standard-bred fowls of France. The breed gets its name from Crève-Coeur en Ange, a small town in Normandy, France. The breed’s name translates as “broken heart” as in the romantic sense. Little is […]

Franny and Karissa are are sharing their love for the Plymouth Barred Rock! These birds are a hearty healthy breed that are also great parents and easy to tame! Find out more about Barred Rocks and other heritage breeds @ https://goo.gl/QV4zMA For more fomestead videos and good advice visit The MOTHER EARTH NEWS and Friends […]