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GARFIELD FARM CHICKS PART OF MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY DISPLAY CITY BORN CHICKS FIND LIFE ON THE FARM

The new $5 million "Genetics: Decoding Life" exhibit at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry contains the ever popular chick hatching incubator that includes Garfield Farm Museum's rare Black Java chickens. On one side of the incubator is signage explaining the complex inheritance pattern and the rarity of the Black Java and how MSI and Garfield Farm have partnered to save this breed.
"This is certainly what is old is new again" stated Janet Ott, Garfield Farm Museum site manager. "Garfield Farm Museum's goal is portray an 1840s working farm so the Black Java is an appropriate breed of the era. As these birds have become rare, they now fit in with The Museum of Science and Industry's genetic display which includes cloned mice, frogs with
inserted genes that cause their eyes to glow under black light, and potatoes genetically distasteful to potato beetles. The scarcity of the Javas reflects the loss of genetic diversity in an era where genetics are more important than ever. Within our Black Java flock at Garfield Farm are the genes of the White Java which was believed to be extinct."
In 1999 at Garfield Farm, instead of black and yellow, a gray and white chick hatched out that feathered out all white. This was the first time since the 1960s a White Java had been seen. The genes for the trait survived in the flock and finally with the appropriate combination of
parents, the White Java reappeared. There is also a possibility that a rarer form might reappear, the Blue Java.
Working with the Museum of Science and Industry has been an excellent fit for Garfield Farm. Garfield Farm, like any historic agency is duty bound to be stewards of historic artifacts for the future. With the scarcity of the Black Java, this responsibility now extended to a living
artifact. Garfield Farm does not currently have incubator capacity or time to tend the incubator to produce Black Javas for individuals who would are willing to establish flocks around the country. The Museum of Science and Industry has to have 2-4 dozen eggs hatching a day for their exhibit. Working together, Garfield provides the eggs and finds people who want the
chicks and the MSI incubates, hatches and prepares the chicks for their new homes. As a result, over 1500 chicks have been hatched and placed around the country. This begins a base for insuring the breed will not go extinct and broadens the genetics to ultimately reduce the prospects of in-breeding that could cause the breed to decline.
The fact that the White Java reappeared also bodes well for MSI's exhibit. Here is a demonstration of how historically people through breeding have selected traits to create new varieties of crops and animals. An unusual trait that surfaces like the White Java could then be selected as a parent to develop a line of White Javas. For students and adults alike, long
separated from their agricultural heritage, this opens their eyes to what was once a common knowledge and understanding in agrarian America. In the hopeful era of genetic engineering, these concepts are crucial for the general populace to rediscover.
All this is just a start for Garfield Farm Museum as the museum hopes to expand its efforts to preserve the rare breeds that it must have for its historic interpretation. "This all hinges on our success in raising $2.5 million to buy the adjacent Mongerson Brothers Farm" said Jerome
Johnson, museum director. "There is an excellent set of farm buildings on that property that could house the rare breeding flocks and herds the museum will depend upon for the future."
The Mongerson Brothers Farms of approximately 99 acres offers permanent protection of the historic Garfield Farm setting, adds the second Garfield generation's buildings to the project, and provides an opportunity to restore wetlands and prairies elsewhere on Garfield Farm with the addition of 83 tillable acres. The museum has raised over $1.6 million towards its July 2002 goal and is seeking help from all quarters.
Garfield Farm Museum is the most historically intact former 1840s
Illinois prairie farmstead and teamster inn being restored as an 1840s working farm. To date over 2300 households in 37 states have donated over $5 million towards its preservation. Individuals who would like to help or to obtain Black Javas should contact the museum at info@garfieldfarm.org <mailto:info@garfieldfarm.org> or call (630)584-8485. The museum is located in the center of Kane County, just 5 miles west of Geneva, IL off ILL Rt. 38 on Garfield Road.

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