advice needed: Culling out bad genetics in my flock.

[HeatherLynn]

We are in a bit of a downhill slid. A couple years ago I introduced Marans to my flock. I paid premium prices but these are not premium birds. I have had nothing bug genetic issues in my hatches and birds with a weak immune system. Egg bound and sour crops too. Only ever with the marans. All my other birds are fine. Problem is as older birds passed I have kept up my numbers with marans. Great layers but gah always something wrong. Every hatch I will lose about half of those egg that hatch. Crossed beaks and deformaties.

So My maran roo is meeting mr axe and the girls will slowly be phased out. I plan for now to focus on the full blooded ones and let the mix breeds be. It seems with the mixing I still get a fair bird. I think. Should I consider weeding these out too? I think I need to start over a bit. Opinions on better breeds. I do have a breeding trio of lavender orps that I was considering putting in the breeding coop.

 

[chooks4life]

I think you're right on the money there... Weed them out. Personally I wouldn't persevere with them, even if the half-breds looked alright, you don't want that stuff persisting indefinitely into your (and their) futures.

What a terrible bunch you must have gotten, that sounds a bit steep!

If you still like Marans, surely a better breeder can supply you with truly quality birds. Your experience there sounds a bit extreme, I don't think you're too likely to repeat it. But I'd totally understand if you could no longer stomach the sight of them, lol.

Best wishes.

 

[speckledhen]

I think you're right on the money there... Weed them out. Personally I wouldn't persevere with them, even if the half-breds looked alright, you don't want that stuff persisting indefinitely into your (and their) futures.

What a terrible bunch you must have gotten, that sounds a bit steep!

If you still like Marans, surely a better breeder can supply you with truly quality birds. Your experience there sounds a bit extreme, I don't think you're too likely to repeat it. But I'd totally understand if you could no longer stomach the sight of them, lol.

Best wishes.

I must agree. Sometimes, you have to just wipe the slate clean.

 

[lazy gardener]

It sounds like you're not 100% truly settled, in love with a specific breed, but want to have a breeding program to produce some quality birds of a specific breed. What are your criteria for what makes the perfect bird FOR YOU? Take that info, and do a search of the breed options available, then when you narrow down your choices, check out the breed clubs for those breeds. Hopefully, you can find a breeder near by who has a strong healthy gene pool for you to draw from.

 

[donrae]

I can't imagine having all those problems

. With all those issues, I wouldn't even keep them as mixes. Get rid of them, and good riddance. Start over with some healthy stock.

 

[nayeli]

You like chicken? LOL! I'm sorry but those should all be turned into food, you don't even want to sell them.

 

[Mrs. K]

So odd, Donrae and I were just talking on a pm, how sometimes you think you are going to like a breed, and then you don't. With me, it was domminiques. I was sure that was the way to go..... but I really don't like them. I agree with the others, cull and replace, I am thinking strongly of going back to more BO flock. I have never tried the darker colored ones, but think I will next year.

Anytime people breed to enhance a single trait such as the chocolate brown eggs, a lot of deformities show up.

I did try Sandhills preservation for some higher quality birds a couple of years ago and was pleased.

Mrs K

 

[speckledhen]

So odd, Donrae and I were just talking on a pm, how sometimes you think you are going to like a breed, and then you don't. With me, it was domminiques. I was sure that was the way to go..... but I really don't like them. I agree with the others, cull and replace, I am thinking strongly of going back to more BO flock. I have never tried the darker colored ones, but think I will next year.

Anytime people breed to enhance a single trait such as the chocolate brown eggs, a lot of deformities show up.

I did try Sandhills preservation for some higher quality birds a couple of years ago and was pleased.

Mrs K

Very true. I did not care for the Speckled Sussex I had, though I thought I'd love them. Didn't much care for the personalities of the Welsummers, either. They were just bland to me. I accidentally ended up with two Barred Rock pullets (long story) though I had not planned to get them and I fell in love with them; now, they are my favorite. So, you have to try things to know what you like and what works for you.

There's a chicken breed for everyone.

 

[NewToTheFlock]

So odd, Donrae and I were just talking on a pm, how sometimes you think you are going to like a breed, and then you don't. With me, it was domminiques. I was sure that was the way to go..... but I really don't like them. I agree with the others, cull and replace, I am thinking strongly of going back to more BO flock. I have never tried the darker colored ones, but think I will next year.

Anytime people breed to enhance a single trait such as the chocolate brown eggs, a lot of deformities show up.

I did try Sandhills preservation for some higher quality birds a couple of years ago and was pleased.

Mrs K

Mrs. K, just out of curiosity, what were your issues with the Dominique's? I'm new to the chicken world, so my experience is minimal.

 

[speckledhen]

I also wanted to say that you can have a bad experience with hatchery stock and then get the same breed, the true breed as it was meant to be from good stock, heritage lines if it's a heritage breed, and have an entirely different experience with them. I did with Delawares. So, it may not be the breed, per se, but the quality of what you get as well.