Breed, Hybrid: What’s This All About?

Leafing through the Hoover’s Hatchery catalog or clicking through its website is a fun way to discover the amazing diversity of poultry The sheer number of chicken types is fascinating but it can be confusing Just what is a breed? Hybrid?

 

Just What Is a Breed?

 

One thing is certain All chickens belong to the same species, whether they are immense Jersey Giants or diminutive bantams Such useful birds probably were developed from the Red Jungle Fowl, which still lives in the wild in some southern Asian forests Scientifically the modern chicken is Galus galus domesticus  

 

It can get complicated People

Founding Flocks, Part 6: The New Hampshire

FlockJourney America 250 Series, Part 6: The New Hampshire, the breed from the state that made America official

Top 3 Takeaways

  • New Hampshire is the state that wanted its own chicken New Hampshire’s poultry breeders watched Rhode Island get a breed named for it and decided to create their own By the mid-1930s they had, by refining Rhode Island Red stock in the Granite State into a faster-growing, dependable bird all their own
  • It is a working bird, bred to do two jobs well The New Hampshire lays about 240 brown eggs a year and grows quickly enough that it

Founding Flocks, Part 5: The Jersey Giant

Some Founding Flocks breeds get by on their looks The Jersey Giant gets by on sheer size Developed in New Jersey in the late 1800s, it is exactly what the name promises: the biggest chicken most backyard Keepers will ever raise Part five of our Founding Flocks series belongs to the gentle giant of the American backyard

Top 3 Takeaways

  • Built to be the biggest Developed in New Jersey specifically to be one of the largest breeds in the country, and it still holds that reputation today
  • Slow and steady Jersey Giants take

America 250 Series, Part 3: Barred Plymouth Rock

Close your eyes and picture a chicken Odds are you just pictured this one The black-and-white striped hen scratching around the barnyard is the Barred Plymouth Rock, and for the better part of a century it was the most common chicken in America Week three of our America 250 series belongs to the bird that became the picture of the American backyard

Top 3 Takeaways

  • It’s the chicken everyone pictures The barred black-and-white hen is the storybook American farm chicken, and it was one of the most popular breeds in the country for