HERITAGE CHICKENS
Pure Bred & Hybridized
At the Hopeful Homesteaders we are breeding multiple varieties of heritage and hybrid chickens. Breeds that we sell as named-breed Hatching Eggs and Chicks are exclusively pure-bred isolated flocks to ensure each and every egg that goes to market breeds true. All eggs, chicks, and mature chickens sold as Heritage Chickens are 100% pure bred within an isolated flock. In contrast, Hybrid Chickens available at various stages of maturation are a result of crossbreeding within our own homestead breeding program.
Pure breeding multiple varieties of chickens requires us to have separate coops and runs for each variety we chose to offer, as well as alternative coops and runs for hybridization and the various breeding programs that we run. It takes up a lot of space on our 2 acre homestead, and also takes more time in care and maintenance than simply focusing on one breed or selling "barnyard mixes". But the value in our additional time and effort is being able to provide hatching eggs and chicks that we can ensure come from a proven and reliable bloodline.
Random Eggs
Though we actively cross-breed various heritage breeds we do not market the hatching eggs or the live chicks. Any products or packages we provide regarding chickens that says "Random", such as Random Hatching Eggs, refers to a random selection of our pure-bred chicken breeds. Random Hatching Eggs, or Mystery Eggs as we like to call them, are a lot of fun to hatch!
Hmong - Veitnam
Hmong chickens, or Zombie Chickens as we call them, are a fantastic looking variety. Our primary rooster Delos is white with a blue-black tail, black beak and feet, and a deep dark red comb. He has been primarily occupied with a mixed flock of hens in our alternative breeding programs, but in the spring he will be united with our Hmong hens to produce some gorgeous babies.
As a landrace the Hmong have a wide variety of physical characteristics, and we have another rooster who will be making his mark in 2025 named Gomez. Gomez looks like he hails from an era of black and white film, devoid of any coloration whatsoever. His mistress, named Morticia, is also a monochrome zombie chicken, and their progeny is sure to be striking in appearance.
Icelandic - Iceland
Icelandic chickens are another landrace variety with a wide array of physical characteristics. At the Hopeful Homesteaders we have several phenotypes; pure white, lavender, tricolor, and various mixed colorations. Icelandic chickens are smaller but provide a good yield of medium-large eggs per year. If you are interested in a breeding program with a lot of unexpected variations in offspring, the Icelandic chickens are perfect.
Our breeding stock consists of a large lavender rooster named Bear and his brother Grizzly, a small pure-white rooster named David Bowie, and a magical looking (almost Hmong) rooster named Prince. Our flock of hens are also wonderful in their colorations and variation, and our primary breeder hen for our homestead breeding program is a white-based tricolor named Bjork who is one of our friendliest and hard-working chickens.
Brahma - China
Brahma chickens are a gorgeous large breed with impressive plumage and are notorious for their leg and foot feathers. They are excellent birds for the Canadian winters as they are cold hardy, but be aware that wet and cold environments can cause their leg and feet feathers to freeze. Brahma chickens are an ideal dual-purpose breed since they yield an impressive carcass weight and provide an abundance of eggs per year.
Our breeding stock at the Hopeful Homesteaders is small but we hope to be able to provide hatching eggs and live chicks late in 2025 once we build up our own flock. Our rooster is a tall and robust Buff Brahma named Frodo and our primary breeding hen is a Dark Brahma (think grey or lavender) named Bilbo. Bilbo is very timid and passive with both humans and other chickens, and is often seen by herself roosting as a giant ball of feathers. Frodo prefers to strut around displaying his magnificence, but is also non-aggressive and happy to let our homestead alpha rooster Dragon handle any issues that arise.
Rhode Island Red - USA
Rhode Island Red chickens are an excellent time-tested heritage chicken that is often considered the best layer of all the traditional dual-purpose breeds. With a dark orange and red feather hue and stunning red eyes, the Rhode Island Red chickens tend to have a lot of character in both appearance and personality. The gloss of their plumage appears greasy and slicked back, like an up and coming New York gangster - and their attitude fits the bill perfectly!
Our breeding stock is led by a very capable yet somewhat awkward rooster named Paprika who can be a bit feisty and peckish but still lives well along other roosters. He was a late bloomer in regards to crowing and being interested in the hens, but 2025 will be his year to shine as he will be joining a new flock of ladies all to himself.
Jersey Giant - USA
Jersey Giants are a large heritage breed that are known for being prolific layers, even into the winter months when light is limited. Jersey Giants are well suited to the Canadian climate as they are hearty and cold-tolerant, and are another perfect dual-purpose breed for homesteaders and hobby farms.
Our breeding flock began with a small but excellent layer named Pax who will be joined in 2025 with a flock of large hens and a robust rooster. At the moment we have a few roosters to choose from for the 2025 breeding season, but they are all large, fit, non-aggressive, and perfectly suitable to lead their flock.
Basque - Spain/France
Nearly extinct only 25 years ago, the Basque chicken is a European heritage breed spanning between Spain and France in an area known as Basque Country. The Basque chicken is a rustic dual-purpose breed with a medium carcass weight and is also a reasonable layer. The Basque chicken comes in five color varieties, and we at the Hopeful Homesteaders are pleased to have two colorations to breed with.
Our flock is led by our rooster Mal (Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds) and his alpha hen Severo. 2025 adds a few fresh beaks to his flock as he will be paired with five more hens completing the breeding flock. Mal is a Marraduna variety (golden cuckoo) and the hens are all Gorria varieties (red). Basque chickens offer both meat and eggs as well as the addition of being able to participate in the conservation of this newly renewed breed.
Orpington - England
The Orpington chicken is a large fluff ball of feathers that was originally bred as a dual-purpose breed for feeding British families in the 19th Century but soon after was almost exclusively utilized as a show bird. Originally bred to be black to conceal the soot from chimneys, the Orpington is now recognized to have seven color varieties.
Our Orpington flock is too small to offer any hatching eggs or live chicks in 2025, but we do have gorgeous Buff Orpingtons that are providing rich, delicious, light-brown eggs for People Food.
Australorp
The Australorp is a product of hybridization between the Black Orpington and the Rhode Island Red and was recognized by the American Poultry Association as a recognized breed in the early 20th Century. Australorp chickens are a dual-purpose heritage breed that are very polite, non-aggressive, and produce a large brown egg.
We will not be directly providing any Australorp hatching eggs or live chicks in 2025, but our alpha rooster that tends to most of our internal breeding programs is a massive Lavender Australorp named Dragon. He is one of the most kind and gentle roosters at Hopeful Homesteaders with deep black eyes and he towers over the other roosters and his hen flock. If you want to see Dragon look no further than our header image on the home page.
Barred Plymouth Rock
Barred Plymouth Rock chickens, or Barred Rock as they are commonly called, are a wonderful laying breed that are friendly with humans, great scavengers, and are a great beginner breed. Due to the popularity and thence accessibility of the Barred Rock breed they are often the first chicken breed a homestead acquires - and the exact same can be said for Hopeful Homesteaders. The chicken math doesn’t lie…all you need is six hens and you will be set for fresh quality eggs for years to come. And only a few months later you’ll be building your second coop to house the other 24 chickens you had no idea you needed until you fell in love with the Barred Rock!
We will not be selling any Barred Rock hatching eggs or live chickens, but our Fresh Chicken Eggs are loaded with perfect medium-large light-brown eggs from our wonderful hens.
Cornish Cross (Leghorn)
The Cornish Cross is a common broiler chicken that grows extremely fast, has a great meat to carcass ratio, and finishes in 8-12 weeks. We do not breed for Cornish Cross but it is included here because a “mutant” joined our homestead unintentionally in 2024 and we have since included her into our internal breeding program. “Lil Bit” was a runt…a hen from a batch of Cornish Cross that was clearly not the same as the rest. As her peers grew and grew with rapid pace she was simply not keeping up. Once she was 6 weeks old we introduced her to Dragon, our alpha rooster, and they very much clicked. Even at full size she is much much smaller than our other hens, but somewhat unsurprisingly her chicks are rather large. We look forward to what Lil Bit has for us and our breeding program in the years to come!
