Counting Chickens In The USA

The Livestock Conservancy’s (TLC) Watchlist equivalent is its Conservation Priority List (CPL) which classifies livestock breeds most in need of conservation, with status determined by genetic uniqueness combined with census findings on breeding populations. Unlike the RBST Watchlist, however, TLC is also able to classify US poultry breeds, which it does by carrying out a poultry census – something that RBST would like to be able to emulate in the future.

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Results of the most recent poultry census were published in Counting Our Chickens – The Great American Poultry Census by A Martin, DP Sponenberg and J Beranger of The Livestock Conservancy. The census of 70 breeds of chicken, 11 of turkeys, 18 of ducks and 14 of geese began in the spring of 2015 and was completed a year later. It was accomplished in partnership with the American Poultry Association, Mother Earth News, the Heritage Poultry Conservancy, The Society for the Preservation of Poultry Antiquities and Tractor Supply Company. It was funded through a generous donation by Murray McMurray Hatchery in recognition of the importance of understanding how poultry populations are faring in North America. Through its partners, and several media outlets, the census reached more than 4 million poultry enthusiasts who were asked to participate. Completed censuses were received from approximately 1,500 private breeders, 48 hatcheries and 8 universities.