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Robert Blosl
Rest in Peace 1947-2013
If you have to get a bird a better one than you have right now you can cross say a female to your best two males. Then hatch half the chicks with each male then mat the best pullets from what ever male or both back to their sires. You could then hope to get the good traits from the new hen in the daughters and cross them back again keeping the very best to the males again. If one dies on you then mate the nice back to the uncle. Then say on your fourth year get a good couple of males and cross them onto your best females. This way you are breeding back to your own family line.
That's how some old timers did it in the 50s and 60s they told me.
You are asking for allot of culls. I once crossed a female onto my red bantams to help me shrink the size down. I hatched about 20 chicks from her only one male was worth a darn. I had already crossed about six years be for two males onto my line of large fowl-bantams that I made so I decided not to use him on my line. Just keep pounding away with what I had. I felt with that out cross to help me shrink the big bantams down would be enough and it was. I got a male from New York Reds that was half mine and half his. I mated him to two of my three year old hens. I got a nice pullet and ckl. I am mating the pullet back to his male he sent me. I am mating the ckl to his aunt as the two three year olds where pen sisters. Should get some good chicks with out a lot of culls. Then will mate the best ckl back to the two old girls again if they live long enough and then the next year a good ckl to some other female that may be the best hen of the year. I don't mate birds like this to pullets. I want old hens that molted back true to their type. I don't trust all this crossing to pullets as you never know if they will keep their true breed type.
I think that I have done enough old hens and old cock birds that I have preserved the old large fowl type on my Red Bantams.
Now lets say you have Barred Rocks from Frank Reese you cross some birds that came from another owner who got their start from Jeremy or say Kathy or Reese himself this year. They are still pure Reese so they should blend in nicely with what you have. However, if you bougtht a bird from say Mr. Roy in Mass and crossed him into this line the sparks would fly not only because its a different Barred Rock line but he has white rock blood mixed into his barreds and it would even open up another can of worms.
I still can not get over a friend and judge who crossed two or three different lines of large fowl Reds four years ago and then he has told me he has so much junk and disappointments in his own new strain that he is getting rid of all his Reds I mean all of them and starting over with a strain that is pure from one of our old time breeders. Maybe he learned his lesson and wont cross onto his birds again.
Down here we crossed some of my old Rhode Island Red large fowl from Illinois and Florida my friend got one killer male as good as the pure Illinois male he won Champion large fowl of the show with at Lake City Fla and this will be crossed back to something but it gives this old strain a new shot of vigor which my old line needed. However, we did get some junk, pinched tails ect no color faults however just little type things.
If they are laying well, but most of all exploding out of the eggs once piped and are vigourous there is no need to cross for vigor. Why waist all the money on culls to feed. However, if they die in the shell at 18 days and there is a good air sack you need fresh blood.
If you get your egg production and feathering rate up your vigor will be at the max and may go many years. If you got to cross go ahead but you must be ready for faults in type or color.
If you have to cross a different breed to your breed to make a old breed that is run down O my god you got to plan on a long road to go. Can you afford to do it or have time to do it.
