The hardy, multipurpose Dominique chickens that came to the New World with the Pilgrims and later travelled in pioneer saddlebags to help settle the West were once too numerous to count, by 1990 a mere 500 hens survived. This is but a single example of the diminishing diversity of farm animals: half of once-common livestock breeds are endangered, others are already extinct. The need to preserve farm animal diversity is increasingly urgent, says the author of this definitive book on endangered breeds of livestock and poultry. Farmyard animals may hold critical keys for our survival, Jan Dohner warns, and with each extinction, genetic traits of potentially vital importance to our agricultural future or to medical progress are forever lost. This comprehensive book features: * complete information on the history, characteristics, qualities, and traits of 138 endangered livestock breeds (goats, sheep, swine, cattle, horses, other equines) and 53 poultry breeds (chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese) * where these breeds may be seen today * the degree of rarity of each breed in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada * information on feral livestock populations * 160 colour photographs and over 80 black and white photos and historical illustrations

Janet Vorwald Dohner is a librarian and researcher who has raised horses, goats, livestock dogs, and chickens, including the very rare Dominique and Delaware breeds, on her farm in Michigan.

"A volume of impressive detail and sweeping scope. Ms. Dohner's book is a persuasive argument against the destruction of our agricultural genetic heritage. It is a welcome American companion to Alderson's The Chance to Survive and deserves the term 'encyclopaedic'." Hans Peter Jorgensen, Director, Agricultural Heritage Tourism Programmes "Dohner makes a valuable contribution to the argument that rare breeds of domestic farm animals are just as important to preserve as wild species." Lyle G. McNeal, founding director, Navajo Sheep Project