Am I moving in the right direction?

[Manny97]

Hi everyone. So I have 3 mix breeds, one hen and two roosters. The three are closely related. The hen has 5 toes and grey legs, and so is one of the roosters. I've put the three together since the roosters get along just fine. They are both mating with this hen.
So here's my plan.

The hen is mated to both roosters. One Rooster(Akamaru) has a beard, grey legs and 5 toes and so is the hen with an exception on the beard. The other rooster (Rock)has four usual toes and pale legs. The traits which I seek, are the beard and grey legs, I don't mind the extra toe mutation.

After my hen has hatched, I will choose hens for my roosters from the hatchlings. Each rooster will be assigned a hen that is a lot similar to it in phenotype.

The new hens will be bred to their fathers .
Akamaru(5 toes, beard & grey legs) will be bred to all daughters with similar characteristics.
Rock(pale legs,four usual toes) will be bred to all daughters with similar characteristics.

The granddaughters will again be selected and bred to their fathers. I will then choose A Rooster and hen from both lines.
The rooster from Akamarusl's line will be bred with a hen from Rock's line and vice versa.

I was wondering if this will help me bring out the traits which I desire.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Breaking apart into two lines then recombining won't aid you in anyway. Unless I'm missing something the bearded cock and hen are the closest to what you want. Just use them and move forward. What were you attempting to pull out from the other cock?

 

[SourRoses]

No. It's not good for one hen to be with two roosters. They will really torment her.

 

[3KillerBs]

Two males and one female is a recipe for disaster. She's going to be horribly over-bred.

Even one-to-one can be a problem.

Do you have any ability to acquire more chickens?

Once you've solved the numbers issue,

Do you have a clear idea of what you want from your chickens? A list of characteristics that you could use to score them in future generations in order to continue to move towards that goal?

Are you willing and able to cull the chickens that don't measure up -- either selling them or eating them?

 

[Manny97]

Breaking apart into two lines then recombining won't aid you in anyway. Unless I'm missing something the bearded cock and hen are the closest to what you want. Just use them and move forward. What were you attempting to pull out from the other cock?

Looking for any recessive traits.


Please note I'm fairly new to breeding.

 

[Manny97]

Two males and one female is a recipe for disaster. She's going to be horribly over-bred.

Even one-to-one can be a problem.

Do you have any ability to acquire more chickens?

Once you've solved the numbers issue,

Do you have a clear idea of what you want from your chickens? A list of characteristics that you could use to score them in future generations in order to continue to move towards that goal?

Are you willing and able to cull the chickens that don't measure up -- either selling them or eating them?

The best I can do is to remove one rooster. I'm going for looks rather than productivity, so a more developed beard, and 5 toes like in Faverolle and grey shanks.

 

[Manny97]

Breaking apart into two lines then recombining won't aid you in anyway. Unless I'm missing something the bearded cock and hen are the closest to what you want. Just use them and move forward. What were you attempting to pull out from the other cock?

I thought maybe there might be recessive traits from his line that might be useful in achieving my goal.

 

[3KillerBs]

The best I can do is to remove one rooster. I'm going for looks rather than productivity, so a more developed beard, and 5 toes like in Faverolle and grey shanks.

For the health of the hen, best to do that then.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

The beard and grey legs don't show on the one cock. There is nothing recessive he contains you'd want unless more work is your goal. Working with only the birds that express the traits you desire and further with their offspring that express those traits to a greater degree you are working toward a goal.

Mating all birds is counterproductive. Selection of who mates and a reason why is all that's needed. If you can't give an answer to yourself why you are mating certain birds then they shouldn't be mated. Selective mating and strong culling of birds from the gene pool will aid your goals.