Chapter 3
A Chicken Isn’t Just a Chicken: Your Guide to Breeds
IN THIS CHAPTER
Understanding breed basics
Checking out breeds for eggs and meat
Looking at show, pet, and rare breeds
A chicken breed is a group of chickens that look similar, have similar genetics, and, when bred together, produce more chickens similar to them. Breeds don’t just emphasize visual differences, however. Just like most domesticated animals, chickens have been selected over time for their ability to fit certain needs that humans have for them. Some chickens are better as meat birds, some are better at laying eggs, and some are just better looking.
Chickens have been selected and bred for certain traits for many reasons, including desires to produce birds that:
- Lay more eggs
- Lay different-colored eggs
- Grow faster
- Provide more breast meat
- Behave more calmly
- Are resistant to disease
In this chapter, we introduce you to breed terminology and discuss how chicken-keepers categorize breeds. Then we explain the most common breeds within each category and give you a mini-biography about each one — we’ve kept them short and sweet, promise!
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