New Partnership Hatched

The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) is pleased to announce a new promotional partnership with Tractor Supply Company (TSC) that will raise awareness of endangered and heritage poultry breeds.

Beginning in March 2011, over 1,000 Tractor Supply stores across the country will participate in the annual Chick Days program. This year, the program will include a number of heritage breeds of poultry, many of which are considered endangered by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy.

“This partnership will bring awareness to a critical issue facing the American agricultural system – dwindling diversity and the subsequent loss of many breeds of livestock and poultry,” said American Livestock Breeds Conservancy Executive Director Charles Bassett. “For ALBC, this is an opportunity to educate Tractor Supply’s current and future customers by providing them with the support and information necessary to raise endangered poultry breeds.”

As part of the partnership, the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy has provided research, information and technical expertise, helping Tractor Supply to share the message of heritage breed conservation with their customers.

“Heritage breeds are the original backyard chicken,” said Jeannette Beranger, Research and Technical Program Manager for ALBC. “It makes sense for hobby-farmers, ranchers, and even suburban and rural homeowners to take interest in these breeds. These are the breeds of our grandparents and great-grandparents – and they are disappearing.”

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that 21 percent of livestock breeds worldwide continue to be at risk of extinction. The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy is the only organization in the United States working to stop the extinction of these breeds – ensuring the future of our agricultural food system.

“We are proud to be associated with ALBC,” said John Wendler, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Tractor Supply Company. “The popularity of backyard flocks in America has spurred demand for additional information and support. As the leading farm and ranch store, our relationship puts TSC in the unique position to help those interested in raising poultry to get started successfully while raising awareness of the diversity of breeds out there, many of which are in need of conservation.”

In 2011, the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy listed over 188 breeds of livestock and poultry on its Conservation Priority List, a list that designates population levels for endangered domesticated breeds. Twenty-nine poultry breeds were listed as critically endangered, making the TSC partnership an even more important step in the promotion and conservation of heritage breeds.

For more information about endangered poultry breeds, visit http://www.heritagechicken.org/

For more information about TSC’s Chick Days program, visit http://www.tractorsupply.com/

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About the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy:
The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy is a nonprofit membership organization working to protect over 180 breeds of livestock and poultry from extinction. Included are donkeys, cattle, goats, horses, sheep, pigs, rabbits, chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys. Founded in 1977, ALBC is the pioneer organization in the U.S. working to conserve historic breeds and genetic diversity in livestock. ALBC’s mission is to ensure the future of agriculture through genetic conservation and the promotion of endangered breeds of livestock and poultry.


About Tractor Supply Company:
Tractor Supply Company is the leading retail farm and ranch store brand in America. Founded in 1938, Tractor Supply Company operates more than 1001 stores in 44 states supplying daily farm and ranch maintenance supplies to a targeted customer base. The Company’s stores are focused on supplying the lifestyle needs of recreational farmers and ranchers. The Company also serves the maintenance needs of those who enjoy the rural lifestyle, as well as tradesmen and small businesses.

Talking Waterfowl With Metzer Farms

By Jeannette Beranger
ALBC Research & Technical Program Manager

In January, my work at American Livestock Breeds Conservancy took me to California to lecture at the Ecofarm Conference in Monterey. As luck would have it, I had an extra day to take a side trip to visit the noted waterfowl producer, John Metzer, at his farm in Gonzales, not far from the conference site. Because ALBC continues to develop the production selection materials for these species, it was an opportunity not to be missed while in the area.

John’s father had brought the hobby of waterfowl production to the Metzer family over 30 years ago. When John graduated from college, he thought he could turn his dad’s hobby into a full-time business which he began in 1972. With much work, his endeavor has proven successful and the farm has become one of the largest hatcheries for waterfowl in the U.S. Currently Metzer Farms works with 17 breeds of ducks including a number of endangered breeds including Rouen, Khaki Campbell, Blue Swedish, Buff, Cayuga, Welsh Harlequin, White Runner, Black Runner, Blue Runner, and Chocolate Runner ducks. There are 12 breeds of geese managed on the farm including the endangered Toulouse, Chinese, Pilgrim, Buff, African, and Roman Tufted and Classic Roman geese. Egg production on the farm ranges from a winter time low of about 2,500 eggs per day to an impressive spring high of about 7,000 eggs per day.

Upon arrival at the farm, I was greeted by John at his office and we immediately began a tour of the facility beginning with the incubation rooms. In 2008, new Jamesway incubators were installed in the facility replacing the old incubators, some of which were over 50 years old. The new incubators were a big step for the facility because each incubator can hold 35,000 eggs at a time! These incubators differed from the old ones in that they are used as “single stage” incubators. This means that all of the eggs in each are of the same age and are due to hatch together at the same time period. With this system it is easier to manage the changing needs of eggs as they mature without disrupting the needs of younger or older eggs that may be in the same incubator. John has been very pleased with the new incubators and has seen a 4-18+% increase in hatchability with the most dramatic improvement being found with the hatchability of the geese eggs. To learn more about single stage incubation results, read John’s article at http://www.metzerfarms.com/Articles/SingleStageIncubation.pdf .

As we finished touring the incubation facility, we moved out into the farm and were greeted by hundreds of ducklings on pasture. The area was filled with Pekin ducklings whose bloodlines originated overseas in France. The Pekin is the breed most commonly used for meat in the U.S. and is one of Metzer’s biggest sellers. We moved from the Pekins to some of the areas that housed some of the rare breed ducks and  we came upon the largest groups of Buff and Swedish ducks I’d ever seen. The Buff duck is an attractive, dual-purpose duck with the ability to lay up to 150-220 eggs per year. It grows quickly and can be ready for market within 8-10 weeks. Its light pin feathers do not show on the plucked carcass so this breed makes for an excellent table bird. Swedish ducks are medium-sized birds that weigh between 6 1/2 and 8 lbs. They provide well-flavored meat and up to 100-150 eggs per year. They are known to be a calm breed and are found in several colors including Blue, Black, and Splash. The multiple colors arise due to heterozygosity in their color gene. With this in mind, if a Blue Swedish duck and drake breed, the ducklings are typically 50% Blue, 25% Black, and 25% Splash. The American Poultry Association Standard of Perfection only allows for the Blue Swedish. The Buff duck is listed as “threatened” and the Swedish is listed in the “watch” category of ALBC’s Conservation Priority List.

Beyond the duck enclosure, there were the pens that held an impressive collection of geese ranging from the small and delicate Chinese to the massive Dewlap Toulouse geese. Chinese geese are among the best layers and are desirable as “watchdogs” that will be the first animals on the farm to alert farmers of intruders on the property. This breed is in the “watch” category of the CPL and is a popular choice for small farms. At Metzer farms, they can be found in the Brown and the White varieties.

An interesting breed included in the Metzer collection was a flock of Classic Roman geese that came from the noted waterfowl breeder, Dave Holderread. Over the years, the Tufted Roman has become more popular in North America but it is the non-tufted, classic variety that is the original form of the breed. Few of this variety remain in the country and Metzer Farms is in the process of building numbers within their breeding flock before they will be able to offer goslings for sale. Roman geese are considered critically endangered.

Other rare breed geese on the farm included the Pilgrim and the American Buff. Both of these breeds are American in origin and a great choice for backyard flocks. The Pilgrim goose is an auto-sexing breed meaning that males and females can be distinguished after hatching. Male goslings are silver-yellow with light-colored bills and females are olive-gray with darker bills. As adults the males are white and females are mostly brownish-gray with some white on their bodies and faces. American Buffs are known for their gentle disposition. Because of the light color of their pinfeathers, they dress out cleanly and make a great table bird for the holidays. Both breeds are considered critically endangered.

Visiting with John was a rare opportunity to see such numbers of endangered waterfowl. As time grew short, the visit came to an end and I was on my way back to North Carolina, but not without some great images and useful food for thought on large scale incubation.

To learn more about Metzer Farm visit http://www.metzerfarms.com/ and for more information on endangered waterfowl visit American Livestock Breeds Conservancy at http://www.albc-usa.org/.

Heritage Chickens Go High-Tech

In response to the chicken movement sweeping the United States, Mother Earth News and Funny Farm Industries recently launched the Pickin’ Chicken app, a downloadable iPhone application that will help everyone from full-time farmers to backyard chicken enthusiasts research breeds from their iPhones, iPads, or iPods.

Keeping chickens is becoming as mainstream as having a cell phone, so why not make chicken breed information easily accessible to the technologically savvy? The new application features an illustrated guide to more than 75 chicken breeds and 100 varieties with 250-plus photos. Users can find the ideal chicken breed for eggs, meat, personality, or any combination based on results from 14 searchable characteristics.

ALBC worked with the creators of the app to include the ALBC conservation priority status of any endangered chicken breeds. When a user opens a profile for a specific breed, the CPL status is listed, and they are linked through to the ALBC website. This is a great way for ALBC to reach a new generation of chicken fanciers.

If you have an iPhone, you can download the app for $2.99 from the Reference section of the Apple App Store. Not an iPhone user, check out ALBC’s Pick-A-Chick chart to review similar breed selection information.