I didn't breed much of the "original" batch because once I knew what I was looking for I could see they were awful. Yellow legs and split wings were also in that batch now that I think of it, in addition to the mossiness, brown chests, comb sprigs, missing leg feathers, etc. Of Daisy X Big Stuff I only kept the one pullet, out of about 15 that I grew out, so yes I would say 1 in 10 is probably a regular ratio. But knowing both parents came from that stock with so many issues it made me nervous to even keep them. But then nature chose for me, and with Big Stuff showing brown in his wing I understand this is from Wheaten influence in the breeding. I can do much better with new stock I think than to keep him.We
I understand your frustration. I had something happen along those lines too. I started test hatching and got tons of stuff popping up. I also did a few breeding where I think the males and females were brother/sister. I had yellow legs, split wing, lack of color and barring on some blues. I culled the culprits and aquired a male from outside my original lines. When I was breeding blues I was trying to get a nice blue male and wasn't fortunate to get one. But someone I sold some chicks to ended up with a beauty of a male, figures. What were your numbers that you hatched from your originals? They say about 1 in 10 are breeders. I have seen that first hand. More no goes than good. I was sad to see my blues go.
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