Purebred vs Hybrid

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Jersey Giants are indeed a pure bred bird. they have a standard of perfection, and if you breed a JG rooster to a JG hen you reliably get JG chicks. Hybrids don't have a standard of perfection, and they don't breed true.
 
Thank You for your time and wisdom. I am still looking for a little more info. As far as I know the Jersey Giant is a combination of three Roosters. How can it be considered a purebred? Please forgive my ignorance. Just looking for clarification. Have great day.
 
Chickenlegs1234 said:
Thank You for your time and wisdom. I am still looking for a little more info. As far as I know the Jersey Giant is a combination of three Roosters. How can it be considered a purebred? Please forgive my ignorance. Just looking for clarification. Have  great day. 
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All breeds were created from multiple other breeds. What makes them a breed instead of a hybrid is generations of INBREEDING, or "line breeding", until the offspring all have more or less identical appearance.

Take a Beagle and a Labrador and their offspring will be mutts right? The offspring could look like any combination of the two, and therefore they don't "breed true". But selectively pick the offspring that look most like a Labrador, but with Beagle fur (or whatever the desired outcome) for about five generations or more, INBREEDING only those with similar offspring, and eventually all the offspring will begin to look the same, or "breed true". That's because you've replaced nearly all the genes with the traits you desire. Now you, unofficially, have a new breed.

Where it really gets confusing is when breeders add another breed into their line to improve deficiencies. In the above example let's say the breeder wanted "giant" examples of his breed. He could selectively breed only the largest offspring, but it could take decades to get to the size he wants. The quickest route might be to breed with a related breed, like the Newfoundland for one generation, and repeat the process above until the offspring breed true. This is called "outcrossing".

The bottom line is that a breed is all about appearance, phenotype. The actual genes don't matter. It is appearance and the ability to breed true that matters. That's my understanding. I hope this helps. I had the same confusion my whole life. For some reason no one likes to talk about inbreeding, but it is absolutely the key to breeding. You can selectively breed your entire life and avoiding inbreeding and not get the results that inbreeding can give you in ten years.
 
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Chickenlegs1234 said:
Thank You for your time and wisdom. I am still looking for a little more info. As far as I know the Jersey Giant is a combination of three Roosters. How can it be considered a purebred? Please forgive my ignorance. Just looking for clarification. Have great day.
Click to expand...
The Jersey Giant was initially developed between 1870 and 1890 by John and Thomas Black who crossed three breeds Black Javas, Black Langshans, and Dark Brahmas to produce a very large bird with the characteristics they wanted in a chicken. Eventually through selective breeding, the Blacks developed parent birds that would breed true and produce offspring with these same identical characteristics. In 1921, the American Association of Jersey Black Giant Breeders Clubs was created and the name “Jersey Giant” was officially adopted for the breed by the group. The standard developed for the birds included a gigantic frame, single comb, yellow skin color, relatively rapid maturity, good vigor, and fine foraging ability. The Jersey Giant was recognized as an official breed by the American Poultry Association (APA) in 1922. Today, Jersey Giants are accepted in the APA Standard of Perfection in three color varieties – black, white, or blue. The fact that three different breeds were initially used in the development of the Jersey Giant does not mean that it is not a "breed." A"breed" is defined as "A group of chickens that are like each other and different from other groups." (https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...of-common-terms-for-raising-backyard-chickens) Jersey Giant offspring have the same characteristics as their parents and are significantly different in many ways from other "breeds." Most modern breeds were developed by crossing and re-crossing other, older breeds. For example Plymouth Rocks were developed by crossing Dominiques, Black Cochins, and Black Javas. Eventually through selective breeding, the modern Plymouth Rock "breed" was developed. Buff Orpingtons were developed by crossing Buff Cochins, Lincolnshire Buffs, and Dorkings. Eventually through selective breeding, the modern Buff Orpington "breed" was developed. Black Orpingtons, in turn, were developed by crossing Buff Orpingtons with Black Minorcas, Black Plymouth Rocks, and Croad Langshans. Again, through selective breeding the Black Orpington was developed. Black Orpingtons were then crossed with several Mediterranean "breeds" to produce a somewhat lighter dual purpose breed that was heat tolerant and a superior egg layer to the Orpingtons. Thus through selective breeding, the Australorp came into being and was officially recognized as a breed by the APA in 1929. The fact that all of these "breeds" were developed from earlier "breeds" in no way means that they are not "breeds" themselves. If that were the case, the only true breed would be the Red Jungle Fowl which was the ancestor of all other chicken breeds.
 
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