New thread as i don't want any more pointers to breeders/lines... not after such an expensive and bad (zero hatch) experience, and established sellers all live in far away states i cannot travel to, and shipping would be a lot and stressful on birds. Buying eggs, chicks or adults isn't an option (already discussed in another thread here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/bantam-speckled-sussex.1162095/ )
This thread is JUST for recreating the breed from scratch.
Had I known that the breeding population was so inbred and hatch rates so low before following suggestions to buy from established lines, I'd probably not have wasted the money on buying eggs. When breeding populations get this genetically weak, the breeders IMHO really owe it to the fancy and the breed's future to be honest about that, and look for ways to inject new blood into the population to undo the effects of inbreeding depression. Even if the eggs I got had hatched, I'd only have been unknowingly continuing to perpetuate the problems... the new population would have been as inbred and as genetically weak as what one began with... actually, likely worse, since one would be starting with an even smaller number of foundational birds than the person you bought the eggs/chicks from.
So, I am back to square one. I had a roo long ago but he has passed on. So I have to start from scratch.
Outcrosses or in my case, creation from the ground up, and then crossing to established lines once they are of good quality can help improve genetic health to a bottlenecked and weakening population.
SO! What bantam breeds would you suggest for such a project? I already have/breed LF speckled sussex. Should I try crossing the LF speckleds to bantams, or should I avoid the use of the LF all together and stick to using bantams only? I have the colour genetics down, but I'm not sure about the best for recreating the 'type'/build.
This thread is JUST for recreating the breed from scratch.
Had I known that the breeding population was so inbred and hatch rates so low before following suggestions to buy from established lines, I'd probably not have wasted the money on buying eggs. When breeding populations get this genetically weak, the breeders IMHO really owe it to the fancy and the breed's future to be honest about that, and look for ways to inject new blood into the population to undo the effects of inbreeding depression. Even if the eggs I got had hatched, I'd only have been unknowingly continuing to perpetuate the problems... the new population would have been as inbred and as genetically weak as what one began with... actually, likely worse, since one would be starting with an even smaller number of foundational birds than the person you bought the eggs/chicks from.
So, I am back to square one. I had a roo long ago but he has passed on. So I have to start from scratch.
Outcrosses or in my case, creation from the ground up, and then crossing to established lines once they are of good quality can help improve genetic health to a bottlenecked and weakening population.
SO! What bantam breeds would you suggest for such a project? I already have/breed LF speckled sussex. Should I try crossing the LF speckleds to bantams, or should I avoid the use of the LF all together and stick to using bantams only? I have the colour genetics down, but I'm not sure about the best for recreating the 'type'/build.
Very helpful.
