Hatchery vs. Heritage

My apologies for not blogging the past week. I've been fairly busy lately and Emma (the new puppy) is extremely exhausting. Her new favorite thing to do is, hop up on to the counter and eat the cats food or chew on spatulas. I think she might be part goat but waiting on her DNA test for confirmation...

 Harvests have been fairly light but we're getting something every evening ranging from berries, squash, potatoes, kale, broccoli, green beans, & tons of herbage. I haven't had to buy produce in weeks, which is nice, I just wish we had a little more to sell. There's always next year, lets cross our fingers for a warmer summer.

Chickeny-things:

This year we added a line of glittery barred rocks that I am super pumped about. They are from Jeremy Woeppel's line of Plymouth Barred Rocks, his line goes back about 100 years. The main difference between a heritage chicken and one from a hatchery, is that they have been bred to be the closest to 'breed standard' as possible. For instance, most hatchery birds are strictly bred for their egg laying capabilities and  the majority of their original traits are lost along the way due to crossing with another breed, etc. Heritage Barred Rocks are prized for the dual purpose capabilities. IE: amazing meat production, winter hardy, and great layers of large brown eggs.

Cool fact about barred rocks: The Barred Rock is the first and oldest member of the Plymouth Barred Rock breed. There are Partridge Rocks, White Rocks, Barred Rocks, Silver, Penciled, Columbian,, Blue, Black & Buff Rocks all under the same umbrella. Through World War II the Barred Rock was the most common chicken that farmers had in their flocks due to their versatile nature.

Really excited to breed these barred rocks next year! They will most likely run $7 a chick, sold as a straight run. If anyone is interested in being added to the list, please contact us in February 2016 to be added to the wait list. 

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Photo below is of Hatchery Stock {Image rights belong to Murray McMurray Hatchery.}

Visually, you definitely see a difference in barring & weight. I'll try to do some side-by-sides with the hatchery barred rocks that we have in our flock for another reference.

Thank you for reading! I appreciate it!
XoXo
-Kristen