Teri J's Javas

Why I started raising Javas

My name is Teri Johnson. I am retired and live in Virginia. I’ve always wanted chickens.  I raised broilers for Tyson Foods for a couple of years. It was heartbreaking and that experience solidified my desire to raise birds in a more humane way. Some of my best memories are with my grandparents and their chickens. When my partner and I moved to a rural area in Virginia we decided it was time for me to have my own little flock.  

Jim Ward's Brief History of the Java Chicken Breed

As a Black Java chicken breeder, I have spent a lot of time thinking about the history of Javas and other chickens during the past six years. I thought that I would share a few of my insights to see what the larger poultry community thinks, keeping in mind that they are conjectures and not established facts. It is a travesty to me that the Java chicken breed is not more widely known given the prominent role it played in the development of so many modern chicken breeds. I can’t image the tragedy that it would have been if Duane Urch, the Garfield Farm and a few others hadn’t kept this important foundational breed going in the late 1980’s and 90’s before its current resurgence.