advice, please!

[tinychicky]

i'm pretty new to (intentional) chicken breeding (i've had hens hatch while i'm on vacation, but that doesn't count since they were mixed breed). i was wondering what advice you experienced breeders might be able to give me for starting out. i want to breed old english: red pyle , spangled, partridge, and silver duckwing. is there anyrthing i should know before i start? i'm planning on selling them, when i'm through...

thanx in advance!

 

[tinychicky]

anyone????

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
Do you have pairs in all of them or just one rooster? What are you working with?

Chris

 

[High Roost Ranch]

I don't know what you mean by selling them when you're through. Through with ???

The best advice I can give for someone starting out in any breed of chicken is to first off study and become familiar with the breed's standard. Then secondly, start with a solid colored variety. The other varieties can be tricky for a novice to keep the correct color going past a generation or two if you don't know how the genetics of the colors you're working with act. And when you buy your stock, I would advise going to a reputable breeder if you want good birds. Hatchery stock are basically for production only, they usually aren't good birds to start a breeding program from. The old saying, you get what you pay for, applies to buying quality stock. I think it's safe to say that any of the long time breeders will offer you the same advice.

 

[tinychicky]

it's just kinda a longterm project for experience only. mostly i'd like to experiment with some color combos and see what i get. the partridge and duckwing are hens and the other two are roosters. i already know the basics (the rooster's comb is passed on not the hen's, black feathering is dominant over white, stuff like that). all i'm asking for is what to expect and will any combonations come up with a recognized variety. i may not end up keeping many of the "results"unless i come up with anything.


actually, never mind, i think i'd rather just experiment with it a bit and figure what i can out for myself!