Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[lildinkem]

My rule for new blood is to ask the breeder who you got your birds from. They should be able to tell. I know I tried two different high quality Buff lines before I was told by the breeder of my Buffs who he uses. And he would know.

 

[NYREDS]

Quote:
Damn, thought I had ya.

Ya have to put a space between those letters to make that work ....

Or say, daahhhhaaammm ......

I have a question ....... about breeding.
Is it recommended to keep your flock closed, or to add new blood? I read about Marans really taking a step back when they add in another line. Is that true in other breeds, too?

The "new blood' urge is always risky no matter what the breed. When working with an established strain you learn what you can expect from different matings within that strain. When you bring in a representative from another strain you have no way of knowing what you have untill it's too late. Any blind outcross is a crap shoot. Sometimes they work, usually they don't.
There may be a time when you want to work on improving an aspect of the strain you're working with & an outcross seems worth trying. When you do this it needs to be a very conrtrolled outcross. Start with a small mating [pair or trio], keep careful records of the progeny & if the outcross seems successful slowly work it into your strain. However, if you are largely happy with your current strain & are working on improving a fine point keep some representatives of your origional strain pure. It's a lot of extra record keeping but worthwhile.
I see ads here, on EBAY & other sites advertising eggs or chicks from unrelated stock. If I was looking for a new breed to start with those would be the last I'd look to. People, I think, make the assumption that breeding chickens [and other animals] is like breeding humans. When people marry their cousins for several generations the outcome isn't positive but it's the best way to breed chickens.
I hear the arguement that line breeding leads to reduced productivity & fertility. I've bred a strain of RI Red Bantams for going on 25 years they are still productive & fertile. I did outcross with some pullets from Bob Blosl but that's a seperate strain. I still have my origional strain pure.

 

[popcornpuppy]

Regarding the question that I asked last night:
I have some pics of my Orpington boys for those who requested photos. The lighting is definately off in these pics, but I didn't think too much of if since body shape and size are my priority, and not color. So Who is the better roo?

This is the one with the "U" body type that I referred to before. He has the the less desirable comb.

this one is my bowling ball with feathers. He is huge, but I'm not sure about his shape.

here are a couple of pics with the boys standing near eachother. I could not get a good side by side photo.

I just wanted to add that these boys are 8 months old and I know that is young by Orpingtn standard time

 

[danhonour]

A good breeder can tell when it is time to outcross,and there are many reason to do so One can maintain a strain and also linebreed and yet outcross.One way I like to do it is to maintain an unbroken line of male descent.You get a new female and cross it to your line male in a special mating.Tag or toe punch the chicks and retain only the female chicks Then take the best pullet f1 back to a pure male of your original line.Repeat by keeping only the best f2 pullets and again mating to your line males.At this point the next generation is mostly your breeding (blood percentage).You retain your strain traits with this method.This is simple and works.

 

[Chickielady]

This thread looks so cool !
I just found it...gotta keep coming back to see what's up.
I love heritage birds !
Any Java or Rhode Island White people here ?

 

[Robert Blosl]

In the case of the male with the poorer comb this is what I like to do mate the male with the best comb to the females that you like for type and combs this year. Then pick the best two pullets from this matting next year and put them in the pen with the male you photographed with the poorer comb.
The male with the good comb will pull for you with his daughters in this matting. Then if you get some killer pullets with great type and you like them mate them back to the male again with the poorer comb. After that you should be able to cross the off sping to other familys that you have.

In Orpingtons which of the two males have the best type and feather quality? The one with the poorer comb or the male with the better comb.

Are these two males brothers?

I have no clue I only know Red Chickens. bob

 

[lildinkem]

Bob,
I was up late last nite and talked to my Black Orp breeder, and she would pick the one with the bad comb first. She mentioned the gravy bowl type. And that the one who has the bad comb, he reminds her more to that look. If you look at the everyday gravy bowl, you see how the bowl tapers evenly at the bottom from both sides. The better comb bird has an uneven look, is what she said to me. Still I agree I would not get rid of him. Genetically they both have the same genes. She also added that these Blacks are not from her lines and was curious who breed them. As I mentioned here before, her main Black Orp breeder does not sell anymore to the public.

 

[Robert Blosl]

To me I liked the male with the poorer comb. I still would inbreed the best daughters back to him for three years. I have seen birds with faults mated back to birds that are thier desendents and they just get better. Then you got to go to another family and cross them on them. bob

 

[lildinkem]

Bob,
I can't count on my fingers how many runt dogs I bought only for them to turn out to be the pick of their litters. Usually everyone who knew more then me would get their choices leaving me with the runt at that time only for that runt to grow to be 95 lbs.
I think the same with chickens too. I would keep them both and do as you say have two separate families.

Here I am with my Jim Herald Old School pure German flatback GSD's and one Shep/Husky mix with the screwed up tail.
These were some of the runts I bought. (this is 12 years ago)

 

[joletabey]

Can I throw another question in here? I bred horses for a time, and I know that not every near perfect specimen can breed on. BUT one doesn't assume they can't. The horses that win in halter classes or performance classes are usually the ones people will breed, trying to get those specific winning traits. Why, if I go to Ohio in a few days hoping to buy some Delawares, should I ask for breeding stock instead of show stock? Wouldn't a bird good enough to show be worth taking a chance on in the breeding pen? What am I missing here? I apologize ahead of time if the answer is so obvious as to make me look like the biggest dope walking, but I am really curious.