heritage breed
Old-fashioned farm animal
A heritage breed is a traditional variety of livestock or poultry that was raised before industrial agriculture standardized production around a few high-yield breeds.
Heritage breeds are often hardier and better adapted to local conditions but produce less meat, milk, or eggs than commercial varieties.
Farmers and conservationists maintain them to preserve genetic diversity: We raise heritage breed turkeys that actually taste like something.
- landraceRegionally adapted traditional stock
- heirloom varietyTraditional, non-hybridized cultivar
- WyandotteGreat Lakes indigenous nation
- genetic diversityAllelic variation within populations
- livestockDomesticated farm animals
conservation programs · pasture-raised · docile temperament · disease resistance · gene pool · poultry · backyard flock · culinary tradition · living history · barnyard · family farm · sustainable farming · flock · ancestry · genetics · purebred · traditional · rustic
- dog typespurebred, crossbreed, mongrel, mutt, pedigree
- poultrychicken, hen, turkey, duck, goose
- poultry traitsegg production, egg size, feather color, broodiness, temperament
- Chickenshen, rooster, chick, pullet, cockerel
- pigssow, boar, hog, swine, piglet
- breedingbreeder, crossbreeding, mating, outbreeding, hybridization