1940's Victory Flock - Victory Garden Hens & Wartime Chicken Keeping

It’s a little known fact that running alongside the US Government’s encouragement for citizens to plant Victory Gardens was the Victory Flock initiative. Their goal was to quickly educate and encourage the populace (who had the ability to feed chickens) to begin keeping them. Local farm and backyard egg production would then allow commercial chicken farms to supply more eggs to the troops. Here is a visual history of the 1940’s Victory Flock with some ideas that can still inspire chicken keepers today:

a black & white image of a man in a dress shirt and bow tie delivering a box of baby chicken chicks being placed in a victory flock brooder by a man, woman, and their two children on a farm with a homemade wood planked chicken coop in the background during World War II — Chicks are being placed in a homemade brooder coop on this Coffee county, Alabama farm as part of the new Food for Defense program in 1941. Image source: Library of Congress

The History Behind The 1940’s Victory Flock

World War II broke out in Europe in September 1939 but the United States was not directly involved. The US was still grappling with the economic hardships of the Great Depression, even in 1940. Wars are costly and eat up great amounts of resources. In June of 1940, when Paris fell to the Germans, England approached the US, requesting to buy desperately needed war supplies. By the time France surrendered the same month, the US was making defense preparations of its own. In December 1940 President Roosevelt delivered a radio address where he urged more aid to Britain, who were attempting to defend themselves against the Germans.

world war II poster that reads our allies need eggs your farm can help to encourage victory flock keeping in the United States — This poster, put out in 1940 by the US Department of Agriculture, encouraged citizens to increase production so eggs could be dried and sent to Great Britain.

Food Desperately Needed

“Food for Defense” became a slogan on war posters that began appearing in 1941. Once the US declared war on December 8, 1941 after the attack on Pearl Harbor, agricultural production became a great concern for all. With our nation entering an existing shooting war, the need for food for our population, our troops, and to help supply allies increased rapidly.

world war II poster in red white and blue that reads produce more food for defense more eggs more milk more pork — This Wartime Poster encourages citizens to produce all they can, saying “Farm Security is National Security”. (1941) Image source: Library of Congress

Victory Flock Education Begins

Victory Gardening was well underway in most US communities when the government realized how beneficial small-scale chicken keeping could be. Chickens and gardening naturally go hand-in-hand, with hens eating garden weeds, damaged vegetables, caterpillars, and destructive pests while providing fertilizer in the form of their droppings. By 1942 home gardeners were being encouraged to also add a Victory Flock if possible.

a black & white image of a chicken coop and run set up inside an exhibit hall with a sign that reads a victory flock with your victory garden — A newly built coop with hens is set up in Washington DC with signage that reads “A Victory Flock with your Victory Garden” to encourage homeowners to also keep laying hens. (1943) Image source: Library of Congress

a brooder holding 16 chicken chicks made of wood and chicken wire with a sign that reads home made brooder can be heated by electricity or kerosene lamp for your victory flock — A homemade chick brooder used by Victory Flock keepers on display in Washington DC to show and encourage others to raise chickens. (1943) Image source: Library of Congress

Uncle Sam Calls for Victory Flocks

Posters with images of hens, chicks, and poultry began to appear right alongside other printed World War II materials. There was real government encouragement for chicken and egg production to increase rapidly. “A Victory Flock for Every Farm” and “A Victory Flock for the Back Yard” was repeated nation-wide:

text reads a victory flock for the back yard" a small flock of chickens may aid the family with a victory garden to produce more food for home use — An excerpt from an April 1943 pamphlet published by the United States Department of Agriculture, encouraging a Backyard Victory Flock

Encouragement Everywhere

Posters, pamphlets, informational billets, printed bulletins, and catalogues seemed to all be encouraging Victory Gardens and Victory Flocks. Citizens must have felt inundated by the deluge of information available to them! The stream of encouragement for home food production did not cease.

a rough black & white image shows white chickens roughly 2 months old exiting a chicken coop onto grass on a farm — An excerpt from the July 1942 edition of the Farm Journal and Farmer’s Wife details the progress of a new Victory Flock the journal’s poultry editor is following.

Chickens in Wartime

The response from the public was overwhelming as everyone seemed to pitch in where they could. Rural America was churning out shocking numbers of eggs, hens, and broilers. Yet this was hardly enough to keep up with demand.

a woman with a metal watering can waters a row of newly planted seedlings in a neighborhood community victory garden with a wood and plastic green house behind her and a wood planked chicken coop to the left of the green house — This 1943 neighborhood Victory Garden plot has a greenhouse & chicken coop in the background.

a black & white image of a boy feeding white chickens in his family's backyard WWII Victory Garden — A boy feeds his family’s flock on a farm in Alabama, 1941.

a black & white image of 1 week old white colored chicken chicks inside a large brooder in a barn with kerosene heaters and galvanized feed troughs and waterers — An excerpt from the January 1943 edition of Farm Journal and Farmer’s Wife catalogue that was the header of an article on record-breaking chicken numbers.

Educating the Public

Printed information was made increasingly available to educate Victory Flock owners and help them overcome common chicken keeping issues:

text reads artificial lighting increases production during fall and winter — This excerpt from the 1944 Maryland Poultry Yearbook references University studies done during the Great Depression years of 1932-1935 to increase egg production by using artificial lighting.

Farm Flocks Increased

If a farm’s hen house could hold more birds, they were encouraged to do so. In September 1942 a film strip titled “Victory in an Egg Shell” was released by the US Farm Security Administration, encouraging increased egg production from all farms & chicken keepers.

white eggs in a metal basket with text that reads victory in an eggshell — The opening title of the September 1942 informational film strip.

a black & white image of a woman holding a metal bucket full of scratch grains which she is throwing to a flock of over 50 white hens outside of a large poultry house on a farm with white text that reads chickens drafted for the duration of the war — Farms with large poultry houses were encouraged to keep them full of laying hens.

young white birds rush out of an open chicken coop door with text that reads more egg producers needed — Leghorns and leghorn hybrid strains were popular because they laid more eggs than dual purpose breeds.

Old Ideas Become New Again

Some long-forgotten chicken keeping tricks were employed by those who had to manage Victory Flocks and Victory Gardens all in one backyard space:

a pencil drawing of a hen inside of a small triangle chicken tractor, sticking her head out to eat grass with 5 chicks pictured around her head

The Broody Hen Tractor shown above is a clever invention used for centuries. Hens often wander too far into open pasture with young chicks, which are easily picked off by predators and lost. This little tractor would allow the hen to be contained in one area (usually a fenced pasture) and if a hawk flew over, she would call her chicks to her under the safety of the tractor roof. The chicks could easily fit through the slats and would learn to scratch & peck for themselves. While a wood bottom is shown, a wire bottom would allow the mother hen to reach more grass and bugs. This same idea could be employed in a back yard to keep chicks safe and the entire chicken family out of the vegetable garden. At sunset the hen and her chicks could be returned to the coop easily.

a woman is encouraging a red hen to leave the coop and enter the run where a flock of other red hens are being trapped in preparation to move the wooden chicken tractor coop to fresh pasture. — This chicken “catching crate” is a run made of chicken wire with a slip-in-place door that would trap the hens so their tractor coop could be moved to fresh pasture. United Kingdom, 1944.

Historical Feeding Secrets Revealed:

Commercial feeds were available in the 1940’s but they were expensive and mostly used for starting chicks or feeding battery caged hens. Chicken wire, which is used to keep hens out of vegetable gardens, had been available since the mid-1800’s. A family with a backyard flock and garden had to keep one or the other fenced.

Many farm families would opt to fence the half-to-full acre garden and then let the hens free range through the pastures and orchards, like what my Great-grandmother did on her 10 acre farm. If the lot was smaller, the hens would be kept within a large fenced chicken yard and scraps from the kitchen and garden would be tossed to them throughout the day.

Chicken Breeders Wanted

As more Americans began keeping backyard chickens, demand for chicks increased rapidly. Interest in hybrid lines that were producing 300+ eggs per year were sought after. Because families would be plucking and eating the cockerels they hatched, demand for white feathered, clean legged birds skyrocketed. Why? Because white feathered birds do not have any pigment at the base of their feather shaft so their carcass appears cleaner when plucked. Nearly all the poultry meat sold in today’s grocery stores comes from white feathered broilers.

text reads big new white egg money makers with new hampshire whites and white giants for brown eggs — This ad appeared in the Farm Journal and Farmer’s Wife catalogue in December 1941. Breeders created white-feathered birds that produced a male broiler which looked very clean when plucked and hens who laid huge numbers of eggs. It is still possible to buy White Jersey Giants today.

This excerpt encourages readers to purchase cockerels from a specific strain to breed for higher production egg-laying offspring.

The Rise of Poultry Products

With increased interest in chicken keeping came new products marketed to poultry keepers. All of them had the intention of saving chicks, bolstering nutrition, and increasing the number of eggs laid. While most of these are no longer available, I have personally been thrilled with the chicken supplement I use on my own flock to encourage better recovery after molting and resumption of laying large numbers of eggs.

Example of an ad for a poultry supplement from a September 1942 Farm Journal.

A Victory Flock Was Not a New Idea!

As popular as Victory Flocks were during WWII, it wasn’t the first time citizens had been asked to help produce more of their own food. There had been a similar initiative in 1918 during World War I where posters urged residents to keep laying hens in their backyards.

a drawing of a boy hammering roof planks onto a small chicken tractor while a little girl in a dress scatters grain for a backyard victory flock of white chickens with text that reads Uncle Sam expects you to keep hens and raise chickens: two hens in the back yard for each person in the house will keep a family in fresh eggs — A hand drawn scene accompanies this 1918 World War I era poster encouraging citizens to keep 2 hens per person.

The British Kept Victory Flocks, Too!

Across the pond, a huge number of civilians were keeping backyard chickens and pigs in an effort to raise food while Germany was attempting to blockade – and starve – the country. English hatcheries struggled to keep up with the demand. The series War Time Kitchen and Garden is an excellent historical look at how British citizens supplemented war time rationing with backyard gardening and chicken keeping.

World War II poster that reads save kitchen scraps to feed the hens — This British WWII poster encourages citizens to save kitchen scraps.

If Victory Flocks Were Needed Again…

While I am incredibly fond of fluffy-faced Easter Eggers who lay pretty blue & green eggs and dual-purpose Rhode Island Reds, I might follow the example of my great-grandmother and keep a white feathered breed who lays a huge number of eggs. Since I live in Texas, not far from Ideal Poultry hatchery, I might opt for their Ideal 236 Leghorn hybrid. If I wanted to raise heritage broilers, I’ve heard wonderful things about the Delaware Broilers (including most keepers saying they will never go back to Cornish cross after having the huge Delaware broilers).

Live in a warm climate? Click to view the breeds that lay the best through sizzling summer heat!

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1940’s Victory Flock – Victory Garden Hens & Wartime Chicken Keeping