RECENT HISTORY
ABOVE AND BELOW - ERMINETTES OF RON NELSON BREEDING THAT GLENN PICKED UP IN WISCONSIN FROM JOSH MILLER
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Recent Erminette history picks up in the early 2000's when The Society for the Preservation of Poultry Antiquities (SPPA) had sent out a list of breeds to its membership. This list consisted of breeds that hadn't been seen in poultry circles for decades and were of the highest priority. Most breeds which made this list have in fact gone extinct, but tucked away on a small farm in Wisconsin was and elderly lady in her 90's and her flock of Erminettes.
Had the SPPA not sent out the warning flare Ron Nelson wouldn't have been on the look out for the Erminette. But sometime prior to 2010 Ron was driving through the back roads of Wisconsin and came upon a flock of Erminettes foraging away. There were roughly 40 hens and a few cockbirds. Ron stopped and talked with the owner. When he asked her what breed she was raising she said, "Erminettes", and she went on to say that they were originally her grandfathers, then were handed down to her father, who handed them down to her. She gave Ron some hatching eggs and so started the recovery of the Erminette. A year or two later Ron went back to visit with the old woman and maybe secure some additional hatching eggs. But the chickens were gone, and so too was the elderly woman. No one ever learned her name or what happened to her and her flock.
Ron stated that the birds were smaller than historical accounts documented and so he set out to improve size. He did share that they were superb layers of brown eggs. Ron did great work with improving body size in his Erminettes but in a short few years Ron passed away and his flocks were disbanded by his sister. But, before she did so she allowed Josh Miller (a close friend of Ron's) to come and take anything he wanted. Knowing the rarity of the Erminette, Josh took everything Ron had. This happened unbeknownst to everyone else and it was feared that the sun had finally set on the Erminette.
About four years after Ron's passing, Glenn Drowns of Sandhill Preservation Center was contacted by Josh Miller. Josh stated that he had obtained some of Ron's Erminettes before Ron's sister disbanded the flocks and he wanted to know if Glenn wanted the birds. He thought he might have to get rid of all his chickens and didn't want the Erminettes to be lost.
Glenn was overjoyed that the birds were still alive and he set out the next day to Wisconsin to bring home what was left of the Erminettes. Glenn set every egg laid and grew out every bird that was hatched. When the avian flu started its damage in Iowa in 2015, Glenn sent a second shipment of chicks to Matt Hemmer of Kansas and then contacted Curt Burroughs of Iowa to see if he would maintain an additional satellite flock. Chicks were sent and shortly afterwards Glenn's yellow skinned birds were wiped out by predators leaving only the white skinned individuals. In conversations between the three of them it was realized that the young cockerel (Tyke) in Curt's coop was the only yellow skinned male left of the breed at that time and that he was the only one with a flock of solid yellow skinned birds.
The greatest improvements in the breed since 2015 have come from Matt Hemmer. Since 2015 he has hatched out hundreds of chicks each year and he has produced some of the finest examples of the breed to date. He has firmly established a large flock of all yellow skinned birds, and has been able to select fine specimens to keep back as breeders. He has been able to send birds back to both Curt and Glenn in 2018. To Curt went a nice group of pullets and young cockerels with solid yellow shanks and toes and to Glenn went a nice group of pullets and two cockerels giving Glenn a flock of yellow skinned birds.
Recent Erminette history picks up in the early 2000's when The Society for the Preservation of Poultry Antiquities (SPPA) had sent out a list of breeds to its membership. This list consisted of breeds that hadn't been seen in poultry circles for decades and were of the highest priority. Most breeds which made this list have in fact gone extinct, but tucked away on a small farm in Wisconsin was and elderly lady in her 90's and her flock of Erminettes.
Had the SPPA not sent out the warning flare Ron Nelson wouldn't have been on the look out for the Erminette. But sometime prior to 2010 Ron was driving through the back roads of Wisconsin and came upon a flock of Erminettes foraging away. There were roughly 40 hens and a few cockbirds. Ron stopped and talked with the owner. When he asked her what breed she was raising she said, "Erminettes", and she went on to say that they were originally her grandfathers, then were handed down to her father, who handed them down to her. She gave Ron some hatching eggs and so started the recovery of the Erminette. A year or two later Ron went back to visit with the old woman and maybe secure some additional hatching eggs. But the chickens were gone, and so too was the elderly woman. No one ever learned her name or what happened to her and her flock.
Ron stated that the birds were smaller than historical accounts documented and so he set out to improve size. He did share that they were superb layers of brown eggs. Ron did great work with improving body size in his Erminettes but in a short few years Ron passed away and his flocks were disbanded by his sister. But, before she did so she allowed Josh Miller (a close friend of Ron's) to come and take anything he wanted. Knowing the rarity of the Erminette, Josh took everything Ron had. This happened unbeknownst to everyone else and it was feared that the sun had finally set on the Erminette.
About four years after Ron's passing, Glenn Drowns of Sandhill Preservation Center was contacted by Josh Miller. Josh stated that he had obtained some of Ron's Erminettes before Ron's sister disbanded the flocks and he wanted to know if Glenn wanted the birds. He thought he might have to get rid of all his chickens and didn't want the Erminettes to be lost.
Glenn was overjoyed that the birds were still alive and he set out the next day to Wisconsin to bring home what was left of the Erminettes. Glenn set every egg laid and grew out every bird that was hatched. When the avian flu started its damage in Iowa in 2015, Glenn sent a second shipment of chicks to Matt Hemmer of Kansas and then contacted Curt Burroughs of Iowa to see if he would maintain an additional satellite flock. Chicks were sent and shortly afterwards Glenn's yellow skinned birds were wiped out by predators leaving only the white skinned individuals. In conversations between the three of them it was realized that the young cockerel (Tyke) in Curt's coop was the only yellow skinned male left of the breed at that time and that he was the only one with a flock of solid yellow skinned birds.
The greatest improvements in the breed since 2015 have come from Matt Hemmer. Since 2015 he has hatched out hundreds of chicks each year and he has produced some of the finest examples of the breed to date. He has firmly established a large flock of all yellow skinned birds, and has been able to select fine specimens to keep back as breeders. He has been able to send birds back to both Curt and Glenn in 2018. To Curt went a nice group of pullets and young cockerels with solid yellow shanks and toes and to Glenn went a nice group of pullets and two cockerels giving Glenn a flock of yellow skinned birds.