In selecting breeds it is important to remember that each breed was designed for a certain job within a specific production niche within a particular region. That is, historic purpose is linked to a climatic region and particular form of management. To succeed, this developmental history needs to be respected.

Poultry breeds can be divided based upon the products they were developed to produce. Some breeds were designed to produce eggs primarily, others meat, and still others both meat and eggs. Examples of egg laying breeds would include Leghorn, Minorca, and Campine. Meat breeds would include Cornish and Brahma. Dual-purpose breeds (designed for meat and eggs) would include most American breeds, like Buckeye, Delaware, Plymouth Rock, or Rhode Island Red.

Breeds can further be divided based upon the production system for which they were designed. Some production systems would include: homesteading, small farm, pastured production, house and run production, confinement.

Many older breeds were originally managed with very little husbandry. While these breeds may not lay or grow as well as more modern breeds, they are an appropriate fit for the system of production for which they were designed. For instance, Dominique chickens were designed to scavenge much of their diet, to lay a large number of eggs, to avoid predation, and yet be of sufficient size to make a nice Sunday dinner when roasted. You could say that the Dominique is a dual-purpose breed designed to fit a homesteading system of production. Two other good choices for homesteading fowl would be the Java and the Dorking-both of which had reputations for fine flesh, but neither breed having what would be considered a fast rate of growth by today's standards.

Someone planning to homestead that wished for a large number of eggs might do well to consider the Dominique chicken.

By reading breed histories, talking to breeders, and by contacting organizations like the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy you can select a breed to fit the system you plan to use in the part of the country in which you live.