Helping to preserve this old heritage chicken breed. One of the oldest of the American breeds of chicken. Javas are valued for their dual-purpose characteristics. Though they are slow-growing compared to the broilers used by the commercial chicken industry today, they produce a good carcass. Hens lay a respectable amount of large, brown eggs and will go broody. Javas are particularly known as good
foragers, needing less supplementary feed than many breeds when allowed to free range.[2] Like many large breeds, they are known to be docile in temperament, and hardy in inclement weather. In general, Javas are particularly suitable for keepers of smaller flocks who require a good dual-purpose chicken.[2][3]
Javas are large birds with a sturdy appearance. They are hardy, and are well-suited for both meat and egg production, especially by small-scale farms, homesteads, and backyard keepers. The Java is a key foundation breed for the American class of chickens,[4] having contributed significantly to major modern fowl such as the Jersey Giant, Rhode Island Red and Plymouth Rock.[3] They are also likely to be the source of the yellow skin in contemporary Dominiques, which once had white skin.[4]
[edit] The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy continues to list Javas as Critical on its watchlist, meaning fewer than 500 breeding birds from five or fewer primary breeding flocks are known (this does not take in to account the population of non-breeding flocks).[5] The breed is also listed as part of Slow Food USA's Ark of Taste, a catalog of heritage foods in danger of extinction.[10