I guess you call them, "Superior Farms," line then. Correct?
The point I am getting to is this - for example -
If someone has my Delawares and Braden's and Sandhill's - they mix them all together...... I certainly do not want to be referred to. When all mixed up like that - in my opinion - it becomes THEIR line. Where "the blood," came from is irrelevant, as God only knows which genes were culled for (if any) and which were passed on.
Another thing - I have heard some say - for example, "the genes are there," when they have a cull from good stock. (Well, of course, there are always culls.) In my opinion, "the genes are NOT there," and that is why the bird was a cull. Not ALL genes are passed on.
Tell me, Walt and Bob, is my thinking right here?.
The bird that Jim posted that belonged to me was at that point a tenth generation of Raph's strain. He did not object to me calling it my strain and I always gave/give him credit for his hard work. It only takes 2-3 years to really destroy a strain if you don't know what you are doing, so I think it is fair for a person to call it theirs after a couple of years. I don't encourage people to call my birds I sell them my strain cuz more than likely in a short time they are not going to look like something I want my name attached to. These strain names don't mean a whole lot to me unless they are first generation birds directly from the breeder.
As an example in the Marans world the name Wade Jean is attached to most of the auction eggs, birds etc and if all that was true he would have had to hatch a million birds and he didn't.
The genes may not be there after a season of breeding and culling incorrectly. You have to start with what you have, but after that you can't just throw these birds together and expect them to hold their own or improve.
My advice is that unless the noted breeder hands you the bird don't believe what strain it is. The whose strain it is game is just nonsense .......I laugh out loud sometimes when I read those kinds of posts.
Walt