Chickens are wonderful animals. They are like the coconut. You see, the coconut can be used in many ways- from the leaves to the roots. In more ways than one, chickens are bred and raised because it entails a lot of benefits.
In Asian countries, chickens can be eaten from beak down to its funny-looking feet. Thus, making it one of the sought after poultry products in the animal community.
How to Choose The Chicken Breed
Yet, chickens aren’t used only for food but for ornamental purposes. It all depends on the owner of the poultry farm if he’s going to raise chickens for food or for exhibition.
Whatever the purpose is for these critters, you can settle on one simple question? What breed should you get?
There are actually four ideas to consider when choosing a breed – egg production only, eggs and meat combined, exhibition, and meat only. Aside from these four, people also account chickens as a hobby and they very well enjoy watching and caring for their chickens.
Read also The Chicken Keeping Secrets Guide
1# Egg Production
If you are concerned with only the eggs and are not really a fan of chicken form and features, white leghorns or Red Sex Links and Golden Cornets fits the job. These breeds lay eggs in a very excellent way.
There is a point to ponder upon though, if you wanted white eggs, choose a chicken breed that have ear lobes that are white.
But if you wanted brown eggs, choose a chicken breed that has red ear lobes.
2# Meat
In meat, you have to purchase a breed that grows quickly and weighs big like the Cornish Cross.
It is a cross breed between a White Cornish and a White Plymouth Rock. These breeds weigh four to five pounds in six weeks and weighs more than 6 pounds within 8 to 12 weeks.
Cornish Cross
A broiler (Gallus gallus domesticus) is any chicken that is bred and raised specifically for meat production.
Many typical broilers have white feathers and yellowish skin.
Most commercial broilers reach slaughter-weight between four and seven weeks of age, although slower growing breeds reach slaughter-weight at approximately 14 weeks of age.
The Cornish Cross is the most commonly used meat hybrid. Not only is it the foundation of the broiler industry most pastured poultry producers also base their broiler operations on this “generic chicken” hybrid.
3# Eggs and Meat
Breeds that are dual purpose is a combination of a breed that is both having the talent of vast egg production and grows larger and faster than the rest of the species.
One typical and popular example is the Plymouth Rocks, Wyandottes and Sussex. They are both English and American breeds.
Plymouth Rock Chicken
The Plymouth Rock is an American breed of domestic chicken. It was first seen in Massachusetts in the nineteenth century, and for much of the early twentieth century was the most popular chicken breed in the United States
It is a dual-purpose breed, raised both for its meat and for its brown eggs. It is resistant to cold, easy to manage, and a good sitter
The Plymouth Rock has a single comb with five points; the comb, wattles and ear-lobes are bright red. The legs are yellow and unfeathered. The beak is yellow or horn-colored.
The Plymouth Rock is a dual-purpose breed, and is kept both for its meat and for its large brown eggs, of which it lays about 200 per year.( source 1)
Wyandotte Chicken
The Wyandotte is an American breed of chicken developed in the 1870s. It was named for the indigenous Wyandot people of North America. The Wyandotte is a dual-purpose breed, kept for its brown eggs and its yellow-skinned meat.
It is a popular show bird, and has many color variants. It was originally known as the American Sebright.
The Wyandotte is a fairly large bird, but compact and rounded. The weight range is variable but typically 5 to 8 pounds for pullets to cock birds respectively.
The breast is deep, full and well rounded. The body of a Wyandotte is described as medium length but very wide, carrying that width across the back and into the tail.
It is clean-legged and fairly close-feathered, and has a broad skull with a rose comb.
The skin and shanks are yellow, and the ear-lobes, face and wattles are red. Silver-laced Wyandotte cocks may occasionally display hen feathering.
The Wyandotte is a dual-purpose breed, raised both for eggs and for meat. It matures moderately rapidly, and hens are good layers of tinted eggs. It is a popular show bird, particularly in Germany. ( source 2)
Sussex Chicken
The Sussex is a British breed of dual-purpose chicken, reared both for its meat and for its eggs. Eight colours are recognised for both standard-sized and bantam fowl.
The Sussex chicken is graceful with a long, broad, flat back; a long and straight breastbone; wide shoulders; and a rectangular build.
The tail is held at a 45 degree angle from the body. The eyes are red in the darker varieties but orange in the lighter ones.
The comb is single. The earlobes are red and the legs and skin white in every variety. Cocks weigh approximately 4.1 kg and hens about 3.2 kg.
The Sussex was traditionally reared as a table bird, for meat production. In the early part of the twentieth century it was one of the principal breeds kept for this purpose, until it was displaced by modern industrial hybrid lines.
It may be kept as a dual-purpose bird. Hens lay some 180-200 tinted eggs per year; some layer strains may give up to 250. ( source 3 )
4# Exhibition
These are the kind of birds that are appreciated for their eloquent beauty and features. Every part of their feather-covered body must be exceptional.
Usually those that are chosen to wind up in exhibition during fairs are those that are crossbred.
Exhibitions shows for poultry raising are most popular in places.
Usually, chickens are judged based on their color, breed type that’s supposed to be ideal, their body weight and shape, etc.
Bantams Chicken Breed
Bantams are one of the chicken types that outnumbered larger fowls during shows. They have a characteristic that a judge would adore – takes less space, easier to feed, eat less, and easy to Plymouth Rock chickenhandle.
Their eggs are also expected to be small but are pretty much good for eating like other ordinary eggs.
Some of the popular breeds of bantams are the Wyandottes, Cochins, Old English Game and Plymouth Rocks. These bantam breeds can most likely win in exhibitions.
Bantams are not the only birds that can have the right to the throne. Larger fowl breeds also hog the limelight.
Some of these breeds are the leghorns, Rhode Island Reds, and Black Australorps. These breeds vary in their type, size, color, comb type and shape.