Is it okay to keep a rooster's sisters in his flock for breeding?

[Cloverr39]

I recently hatched 10 silkie chicks from a breeder that I've I've been wanting eggs from for a while. They're going to be way better quality birds than any silkies I currently own. I mainly bought them in hopes of getting a good rooster for my hens. Obviously I'd also want to keep any really good quality pullets I get. Would it be unethical to keep both a rooster and hens togeather if they could all potentially be siblings? (With other, unrelated hens in the flock, but still.)
Right now many people in my local chicken groups are talking about inbreeding and sharing photos and videos or deformed chicks hatching due to inbreeding. I really don't want to produce unhealthy birds. What should I do? Is there a way I can keep them all and make sure their chicks hatch healty as well? Or do I have no choice but to only keep pullets or only keep a cockerel?

 

[DotToDot]

It sounds fine. Chickens (I don’t know the full science) can kinda smell their relatives and normally don’t… y‘know. Do you know how many ladies would potentially be related to the rooster?

 

[Cloverr39]

It sounds fine. Chickens (I don’t know the full science) can kinda smell their relatives and normally don’t… y‘know. Do you know how many ladies would potentially be related to the rooster?

The 10 chicks are only a couple days old so I have no idea how many will be hens and how many will be roos. I might even get all hens or all roos. Based on the photos I was sent of the parents I think the flock had 1 rooster to a couple of hens. I currently have 4 adult silke hens completely unrelated to those chicks.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

It sounds fine. Chickens (I don’t know the full science) can kinda smell their relatives and normally don’t… y‘know. Do you know how many ladies would potentially be related to the rooster?

Chickens couldn't care less if the bird breeding them is a relative.

 

[aart]

Chickens (I don’t know the full science) can kinda smell their relatives and normally don’t… y‘know.

If you knew the science, you'd know that is not true.

 

[MysteryChicken]

I recently hatched 10 silkie chicks from a breeder that I've I've been wanting eggs from for a while. They're going to be way better quality birds than any silkies I currently own. I mainly bought them in hopes of getting a good rooster for my hens. Obviously I'd also want to keep any really good quality pullets I get. Would it be unethical to keep both a rooster and hens togeather if they could all potentially be siblings? (With other, unrelated hens in the flock, but still.)
Right now many people in my local chicken groups are talking about inbreeding and sharing photos and videos or deformed chicks hatching due to inbreeding. I really don't want to produce unhealthy birds. What should I do? Is there a way I can keep them all and make sure their chicks hatch healty as well? Or do I have no choice but to only keep pullets or only keep a cockerel?

I keep, a full sibling pair together, & have hatched a beautiful son from them before. Sadly he died the year 2021, I believe.

 

[Cloverr39]

Ok, so as long as I only keep healthy chicks from them it should be fine? That's a relief cause I really need to improve the quality of my silkie flock.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Ok, so as long as I only keep healthy chicks from them it should be fine? That's a relief cause I really need to improve the quality of my silkie flock.

Yes. But it's best to keep them with unrelated chickens too, so you aren't getting offspring from the sibling pair(s), all the time though.

 

[Cloverr39]

Yes. But it's best to keep them with unrelated chickens too, so you aren't getting offspring from the sibling pair(s), all the time though.

Yes, of course. Like I said I currently have 4 unrelated adult silkie hens and at least 1-3 unrelated pullets a couple weeks older than these new chicks. (1 is definitely a sexlinked female and I think 2 others might also be sexlinked females. The other 3 are questionable).

 

[MysteryChicken]

Yes, of course. Like I said I currently have 4 unrelated adult silkie hens and at least 1-3 unrelated pullets a couple weeks older than these new chicks. (1 is definitely a sexlinked female and I think 2 others might also be sexlinked females. The other 3 are questionable).

That's good.
Sexlinked in which way?