Abstract
With the small farm gradually phasing out and restrictions being put on backyard flocks, a lot of breeds of poultry gradually reached the edge of extinction. Hatcheries cut the fancy breeds out of their catalogs and price lists. It was assumed that many breeds of poultry no longer existed. I had not heard of some 50 or more breeds offered for sale since the 1960's and presumed they were unavailable anywhere at any price. It was through Loyl Stromberg that I learned of the S.P.P.A. "Society for the Preservation of Poultry Antiquities" and what it is doing for the very rare breeds of poultry.
Although several hundred S.P.P.A. members are trying very hard to perpetuate every breed of poultry. The SPPA CRITICAL LIST shows some 28 breeds of chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys to be very low in numbers. Several breeds are shown as declining in numbers, and need the support of fanciers and exhibitors. High on the endangered list is the White Darking, and somewhere someone will say that I am nutz because they have a flock of them. All I can say is that S.P.P.A. -wants to meet you!
Today- there is a hatchery in Webster City, Iowa that offers 67 varieties of chickens. Several hatcheries in Clinton, Missouri; Windsor, Missouri; Stillwater, Oklahoma; Richmond, Pennsylvania and Hahira, Georgia offer some of these rare breeds. Baby chicks, and supplies are offered by a firm in Pine River, Minnesota. Books by the dozens on poultry of all kinds are offered by the hatcheries and fanciers and those in the poultry supply business. Hatching eggs of the rare breeds are offered by S.P.P.A. members and advertisers in the fanciers publications. Todays hatcheries still have a minimum of 25 baby chicks they will ship but you can order one of each breed if you so choose. Some S.P.P.A. members offer baby chicks and hatching eggs from February to late Fall.