When Michele Sullivan Burns of MSB Poultry in Mineral Wells , Texas , met her first Crèvecoeur rooster , his hard - rock hairdo drew her in . A shaver of the 1980s , Burns knew she want to learn everything she could about the bird in front of her and tot more like him to her flock . She bestow the pompadour roo home with her , named him Tommy Lee and thus enter the world of unique wimp breeds .
The rationality citizenry get in to the domain of rarified and heritage breed wimp are as varied as the birds themselves . For Sullivan Burns and many others , it begin with the wow factor . For others , like Christine McGoron ofAmerican Heritage Farmin Perry , Michigan , it started at the request of her 4 - H participant son .
The reasons go on from there , from wanting to introduce more colorful eggs to finding breeds that are frigid hardy . However , many of the reason people continue to promote , breed and wish for these uncommon birds run to be much more co-ordinated .
Raising unequalled — and oft endangered — breeds provides chicken Fannie Farmer , hobbyist and enthusiasts a elbow room to stand out .
Crèvecoeur
Crèvecoeur chickens’oomphcomes from the plumage atop their heads . The roosters have a vanadium - shaped combing , and the hens and roosters sport a spiky pompadour , earning them their Casanova - elan name , which is French for “ broken eye . ”
Before the World Wars , the Crèvecoeur was one of the most democratic farm animal breeds in France because of its high - quality meat . After WWII , it was opine to be nearly extinct .
Now , the Crèvecoeur is classify as “ critically peril ” byThe Livestock Conservancy , a nonprofit organization focused on preserve and promoting rare livestock breeds .
Courtesy Michele Sullivan Burns
It can be especially unmanageable to successfully find , hatching and raise them . “ They do not go reflective , their hatch rate are minimum and for some reason , they like to decease as chicks , even with all the right clobber done , ” Sullivan Burns say . “ ensure you have time for them , good provender and the ability to either have an avian veterinarian close , or be able to address medical needs when warranted . ”
grant to The Livestock Conservancy , these birds do n’t do well in temperature extreme and thrive in more moderate climates . Lara Rice , who raises Crèvecoeurs at River ’s Edge Farm in Fryeburg , Maine , say that during cold , pissed , northeasterly wintertime , their crests and beards can oftentimes form icicle . So it ’s critical to keep them from catch slopped .
In addition , their coiffed feather can baffle other problems , such as impeded eyesight and isolation when among other breeds .
Courtesy Michele Sullivan Burns
“ Our Crèvecoeurs are awfully low on the pecking order and are often picked at due to their tending - draw crests , ” Rice says . “ They are like magnetized pompoms , just drawing other chickens in . ”
For their flaw , though , Rice says Crèvecoeur chickens are extremely adaptable and resilient , as well as have excellent personalities . This strain is the friendly she has ever raised — so much so that she refers to her Crèvecoeurs as her “ other dogs . ”
“ If you desire a wimp with looks and personality , the Crèvecoeur is a dream , ” Rice suppose .
Courtesy Winlock Naked Necks
Courtesy Michele Sullivan Burns
Read more : Check out these 20 cool volaille breeds to consider !
Naked Neck
Naked Neck chickens , or Turkens , are exactly what their name implies . Their feathers stop just below their beak and restart at their berm , and their bald-headed necks help them be more heat tolerant and live .
“ They are very good at adapt to weather changes , ” says Kim Lockhart , who raise Naked Necks in Tennessee . When she was initially research what form of chicken breeds she wanted to raise on her farm , heat and cold tolerance were both at the top of her wish tilt . This made the hoot a everlasting burst for her DoS ’s four season and high humidity .
Naked Necks also have a resilient personality , Lockhart say . For Roxanna Willoughby ofWinlockNaked Necks in Winlock , Washington , that quirkiness is on the button why she pick out to raise them . Naked Necks are more intelligent than many other wimp breeds . And this sometimes gets them in hassle .
Courtesy Sumner Knolls Farms
“ If I get out the logic gate heart-to-heart and they get out of their area , they can be a challenge to round down up , ” Willoughby says . “ With other breeds , I could simply herd them back in . Whereas the Naked Necks might refuse to go back through the gate unless they want to . They do n’t recognize boundaries and may decide to escape a fence and go on a walkabout . ”
Still , it ’s that magnanimous personality that she points to as her favorite part . She likes to expend meter interacting with her chickens each Clarence Shepard Day Jr. . Raising them for meat and egg has its benefits , too . They have 50 pct few feathering than other crybaby breed , which makes for easier processing . They also make excellent mother and lie more than 200 egg per twelvemonth .
“ Before I start raising them , I call up they kind of resembled vultures , ” Willoughby says . “ Now , fully feathered chicken look rather odd and boring to me . Once you prove [ Naked Necks ] , you ’re hooked . ”
Consolvo Images/Shutterstock
Courtesy Winlock Naked Necks
Phoenix
Male Phoenix contribute the pizzazz to the table . Just like peacocks or squirrels , these roosters put their money where their behind is , with long , coloured tail feathers . Before tot up a Phoenix to your quite a little , though , make certain you ’re up to the trial of these pretty birds .
“ The first thing I tell potential purchaser is that these chicken are very anxious , uneasy chickens that can be wild and hard to handle , ” says Lyndsi Greim ofSumner Knoll Farmsin Dade City , Florida . “ Out of all our strain we raise , thePhoenix breed is the craziest . However , if Phoenix chicks are purchased and deal day by day , they can become quite docile towards their owners . ”
Not only can the chickens themselves have rebellious personality , but those adorable tails — the very reason many people gravitate toward the strain — require special upkeep . The long poop plumage are extra sensitive and fragile . So the Greims modify their coops to have higher roosting parallel bars , waterers and feeders to help keep them from getting damaged .
Courtesy Araucana Addiction
The Phoenix breed is best for those hoping to add ornamental or show chicken breed . In plus to their holding challenge , they ’re also not great layer . The hens do make splendid mother , though , allege David Curneal , who raises a flock of Phoenixes in Eagle Mountain , Utah .
Even still , the master draw to the breed is all in the aesthetics .
“ I love the appearance , with the long , flowing buttocks and intense bright color , ” Curneal says . “ I ’ve enjoyed my spate for many years . And I ’m sure others will enjoy them as well . ”
Courtesy Frizzle Feathers Farm
Courtesy Sumner Knolls Farms
Sultan
accord to The Livestock Conservancy , Sultan chickens have the most combined defining feature of any of the inheritance crybaby breeds . Just behold their big , downlike crest , muff and beard !
Other distinguishing structural feature include :
The breed gets its name from its origins in Turkey as the Gallus gallus Sultans would have pasture their garden .
t.balikh/Shutterstock
For Candi Hay ofFrizzle Feathers Farmin Atlanta , Georgia , out of the 16 chicken breeds she raises , her Sultan is the most unequaled and eye - catching . She currently only has one Sultan in her flock . But Hay looks forward to adding more in the future .
However , she punctuate that Sultans are an cosmetic strain , as they tend to require more supervision and are n’t great egg producer . What they lack in purpose , though , they make up for in other convinced trait .
“ She is the chicken I never know I ask , ” Hay says . “ She has a quirky personality , is very unusual look and is beautiful to ascertain . If you want a chicken solely with tons of personality and that ’s beautiful to face at , this is your stock . I now think everyone should have at least one . ”
Courtesy Alchemist Farm & Garden
Consolvo Images / Shutterstock
Araucana
Araucanas can be a difficult stock to raise if your goal are to adhere to spawn standard or produce show - timber bird . Each of their defining traits — risque eggs , ear tuft and rumplessness — comes from care to detail in breeding and genetics .
For example , the protruding ear tuft on Araucanas can vary from chick to raspberry . Some will have no tuft at all , while others will have one tussock . And some will have one on each side of the face .
The gene that carry the tufted trait , though , proves lethal in chicks in the homozygous state , or if they are pass two dominant tussock genes .
For this reason , many Araucana breeders opt to breed a tufted to a nontufted to reduce fatality in doll , according to the Araucana Club of America . The rumpless trait , while not lethal , can pose trouble to the birds as well , in trying to pass the cistron on .
Rumpless Araucanas are pretermit their last two vertebrae , their vegetable oil gland and their tail feathers . This leaves the bird vulnerable to extreme cold and wet atmospheric condition . It also make trouble in conjugation .
last , the blue egg gene does not carry throughto all laying hens . Some will lay olive- or brown - shelled testicle , according to the ACA .
All these characteristics together bring to the rarity of these chicken and the difficultness of raising them . For Jason Fishbein , ofAraucana Addictionin Harleysville , Pennsylvania , that battle is why he choose Araucanas .
“ I breed for the love and the challenge of working with the strain , ” he says . “ I want to raise them because I figured if I was going to have chicken and spend time rearing , I might as well have a breed that is not common and can use help to improve in general . ”
Outside of the difficulty of the breed , it ’s worth giving Araucanas a snap , as they are sound and well-disposed birds . “ The breed is an all - around great breed ; [ they ] lie well and will always be a unequalled member to a flock , ” he says .
Courtesy Araucana Addiction
Read more : Get the egg color you want with these wimp breed !
Frizzle
While not a stock in and of themselves , frizzles make the lean of weirdo within the poulet world because of their crinkly feathers . A shuttlecock is a frizzle — entail its feathers crook up and out — when it carries a frizzle cistron .
Any chicken can transmit the frizzle gene . So these birds stock some of the personality traits of their elemental poulet breeds . However , frizzle breeder Kim McNair , of Brighton , Colorado , says her frizzles are some of the friendliest volaille she ’s ever met .
“ They have the sweetest and friendliest attitudes , ” she sound out . “ They are a lot like small dogs , wanting to be held and getting belly hang-up . ”
Before total frizzles to your flock , though , be certain you have precautions in place to keep them safe and warm . Frizzles of any breed run to be more fragile and less cold hardy .
If you are interested in breeding frizzles on your farm , do so with circumspection . Frizzles should only be cover to nonfrizzles . If two frizzles are bred , it creates a frazzle , in which the bird ’s feather are brittle and the hide super sensitive .
In addition to this , other wellness and strong-arm upshot may go on in frazzles .
Courtesy Frizzle Feathers Farm
La Flèche
La Flèche are known for their great , protruding V - shaped comb . Their devilish appearance has earned them anonym like “ devil bird ” or “ Satan ’s fowl , ” according to Oklahoma State University . The chicken itself is fateful , with its big , red horn - shape comb protruding from the drumhead of both the hens and rooster .
La Flèche chicken are rare in the U.S. , earning them the designation of critically endangered on The Livestock Conservancy ’s inclination . This is in part because the chicken breed fell out of favor once brought to the U.S. , as it ’s not as stale dauntless as other breeds .
For McGoron , though , that oddity is why she choose to raise the bird . Her raid into La Flèche began when her son wanted to elevate one for a 4 - hydrogen labor . Soon , however , one chicken led to more La Flèche chicken detect their way onto McGoron ’s farm , which now concentrate exclusively on heritage livestock breeds .
McGoron believes strongly in help raise the numeral — and awareness of — the spring up fowl stock from which others stem , which contributes to the sustainability of wimp husbandry . Plus , raise inheritance chicken breeds is a capital niche market , she says .
t.balikh/Shutterstock
Silkie
Silkie chickens , while not threaten or particularly rarified , are one - of - a - kind in the man of crybaby breeds because of their foggy feathers . Though this is their spot characteristic , other qualities — like turquoise ear lobe and an strange twenty percent , feathered toe — also fructify silkies into a conference of their own .
Plus , according to many who raise them , Silkies may as well be pets , for their charming personalities and deficiency of especial egg or core production .
Franchesca Duval , head volaille wrangler atAlchemist Farm & Gardenin Sebastopol , California , says every chicken strain — and every wimp within it — is different and has its own Department of Energy .
However , the most overarching quality for Silkies is their pleasantness . She describes Silkies as “ the pate jewel ” of mothers , complete with extra fluff and warmth to incubate their chicks . You could give a Silkie a rock to hatch , and it would sit there and judge forever , Duval say .
They ’re also first-class mother to chicks that are n’t their own . you could give a Silkie a chick of any age or breed , and it will raise and love it .
“ If there was a perfect , benevolent poulet that had the emotion of patience and benignity , it would be a Silkie , ” says Duval , who describes herself as a midwife of chickens .
Silkies are also great with baby . Duval constantly sees her kids and her Silkies hanging out together , with one of the chickens often riding around in the basketball hoop of a bike or the back of a wagon .
Overall , Duval recommends Silkies to anyone who want to enjoy their chickens , specially those who are looking for little boo for a small space .
“ You wo n’t incur a chicken more personable than a Silkie , ” she says .
Courtesy Alchemist Farm & Garden
You Do You
No matter the size of it of your flock or farm , including off - the - wall chicken strain is a proficient way to append something new , interesting and exotic . I hope this guide to some of the unearthly chickens can serve you cypher out where to take off !
This article earlier come out in the January / February 2022 progeny ofChickensmagazine .
