Our daughters are smitten with each new batch of tiny puffballs. Though chicks do not lick faces or chase balls of string, they steal a child’s heart with their soft peeps and fuzzy feathers.

In the Western world, there is a preference for white chicken meat, with dark meat as a second choice. Different breeds and strains are known for the production of different colors, flavors, and textures of meat. A modern Cornish Cross is almost all white meat, including legs and thighs. Breeds such as the Buckeye are known for production of darker meat.

American Plymouth Rocks, Asiatic Cochins, English Cornish, Mediterranean Leghorns, Continental Polish, and the Games are still leaders in small flocks, exhibition, and the hearts of all who keep them.

Standard breeds carry their strength, hardiness, and beauty from the past into the future. The first breeds to be recognized back in the American Poultry Association’s first Standard in 1874 came through the devastation of the Civil War to provide food, income, and inspiration to a struggling nation.