Dual-purpose backyard chooks for both eggs and meat were nearly lost with modern agriculture, but after seven years of solid work one man is bringing them back.

Key points: Retired biochemist Dr Gil Stokes spent seven years developing a dual-purpose chook from the English Sussex and New Hampshire breeds

Retired biochemist Dr Gil Stokes spent seven years developing a dual-purpose chook from the English Sussex and New Hampshire breeds The Quamby hen can lay up to 300 eggs a year and roosters are good eating even at 10 months of age

The Quamby hen can lay up to 300 eggs a year and roosters are good eating even at 10 months of age Breeders across the country are growing the Quamby for release to backyard farmers

The new breed named Quamby is both a prolific egg producer and meaty bird which is good for Sunday roasts.

A former biochemistry lecturer from Tasmania has spent the past seven years of his retirement, full-time, developing the new breed.

Dr Gil Stokes said the modern poultry industry over the past 50 years has hybridised chickens, developing them separately for their eggs and meat.

Fanciers were left with heritage breeds, focused on "creating the perfect looking bird" for shows.

"As a result, the productive traits of these birds have wasted away," Dr Stokes said.

He wanted to tap into the old breeds which were robust — the hens laid eggs for several years and the roosters were great eating.

The Quamby chooks are bred to be resilient and productive. ( ABC Central Victoria: Larissa Romensky )

'Enormous amount of work'

Dr Stokes holds a degree in agricultural science and a masters in animal nutrition.

His father bred and showed the Australorp and Rhode Island Red heritage chickens at the Royal Melbourne Show.

So he took two heritage breeds: the English Sussex and American New Hampshire, known for producing as many as 200 eggs a year.

Working every day for the past seven years, Dr Stokes built nest boxes that would help him separate and analyse the breeding values of each chick.

His work paid off. The Quamby is much more productive as the hens can lay an average of 300 eggs per year.

He described his Quamby as a very gregarious bird that foraged well, was not flighty, and enjoyed human interaction — a "lovely bird to have around that doesn't get sick".

And by developing a new breed it gave Dr Stokes naming rights.

For that he looked to the rocky outcrop of Quamby Bluff, near his Tasmanian farm.

Backyard farmer

The friendly Quamby chooks are developed for an Australian climate suited for the backyard or small holding. ( ABC Central Victoria: Larissa Romensky )

As interest in organic farming and the origins of food continue to surge he hopes this new breed would also take off.

"Now is the time to recreate the kind of bird that was around in the 1930s — laying lots of eggs, and the utility breeds provide meat for the families so the excess boys would all go into meat," he said.

Quamby meat, he said, was darker than commercial chicken meat and the birds live longer.

Commercial broilers are slaughtered at around five to six weeks of age, but the Quamby chook can be eaten at about 10 months.

Raised on a "deep litter system" of sawdust, which helps build resilience, the chickens are fed a specially developed diet which includes the fermented milk, kefir.

"The chicks don't get any antibiotics, they don't get any vaccinations, so if they don't have a good immune system they don't make it," Dr Stokes said.

"Turns out I'd lose maybe five per cent of chicks and possibly one per cent of my adult birds."

Continuing the legacy

Eugene Meegan at home in Heathcote with his Quamby and trap nests. ( ABC Central Victoria: Larissa Romensky )

This year both male roosters and female Quamby chickens were finally released for further breeding.

At 78 years of age, and after several medical procedures, Dr Stokes no longer handles the daily work of their breeding. Instead he has carefully selected three breeders from across the country to continue his "legacy project".

One of those was retired mental health nurse Eugene Meegan from Heathcote in central Victoria.

After reading an article about the Quamby, Mr Meegan got in touch with Dr Stokes and spent three days on his farm in the middle of winter.

Fifteen birds arrived at Heathcote this year and the eggs have begun to hatch.

Using Dr Stokes's guidelines he is selecting the top five per cent for breeding and recording all the information about productivity and behaviour.

"Gil wants to see this chicken breed go out across Australia and for people to have the benefit of a 'good doer' of a chicken," he said.

They plan to get Quamby registered as a recognised breed.