Breda Fowl thread

[Sylvester017]

Wouldn't bringing a different breed in to breed chocolate then make that flock not pure?.

I want to preserve what I have, not being in another color from another breed just to get chocolate.

Someone is already experimenting with Chocolate. I would think keeping a breed pure is best also. However, getting a new color Breda requires a certain line of rules for breeding back and forth until the Breda qualities breed true in a new color variety. It takes several generations -- meanwhile the F1 F2 etc generations are not sold as pure Breda but only chosen for stock improvement in the breeding project. It can take years before a new variety of Breda breeds true because of the need to retain the no-comb, triangle tassle, feathered feet/toes, and vulture hocks in tact. It's the way Cuckoo Breda came about -- it doesn't happen overnight and there are probably a lot of disappointments along the way to developing a new color. I imagine it takes longer to get a new Breda variety because of the need to retain the unique no-comb/triangle tassle feature of the Breda's head. Reviving vulture hocks is another issue. It's possible to develop new Breda colors but it would take longer than the life I have left to live on this earth haha!

 

[Sylvester017]

It takes time to understand pure . It is simply breeding true for the desired traits . Took me awhile to understand that most breeds were created from cross breeding . I helped create Ameraucana bantams by cross breeding and selective breeding . The term pure is often misunderstood .

 

[Sylvester017]

To breed chocolate into a breed, you must take a black rooster and breed that to a chocolate hen. Then save the hens and breed back to one of the black offspring cockerels.
Then the following generation you should produce all chocolate. Then those offspring should be bread back to the black breda for several generations to produce the true chocolate Bredas.
rreaQuote:
I tend to agree with you on that point. Other breeds are used to introduce colors and other traits into many breeds. However it really results in some inherit problems some times that takes years to breed out. A lot depends on what breeds are used to develop what with what you have. In the case of the Breda, since it is known to be a predecessor to many modern day chickens it seems a shame to further mix up the breed and sending them on a backwards spiral. They had been extinct in the U.S. as a specific breed until the last decade of so. It seems a shame to go back to inbreeding in my books.
My example is this: As I mentioned before, the Breda originally came in the cuckoo pattern but when they brought them back into the U.S. the cuckoo pattern obviously wasn't included. Now in the example of @Sylvester017 cuckoo Breda. ( I hope you don't mind me using her as an example....No criticism meant at all!!!) The cuckoo pattern was obviously re-introduced by cross breeding which resulted in a different colored egg. By all general standards her bird looks and is for the most part a pure Breda, but at the loss of the correct egg color. If they were an accepted APA breed that could be shown that would be a dis-qualifier. The positive that comes from that is that she may now have a heartier breed than it's predecessors.
The question I have here more than others is that doesn't that put one in the same mentality as hatcheries selling birds under a name when they are mixed with other breeds to get better laying or less feed consumption or something? Is the loss worth the change?
I prefer to focus on breeding the strongest birds and keeping them as pure as I can. Because they are in my opinion they are worth the effort as they are. Just my opinion and not meant to cause any disagreements.

@chicken danz -- Don't mind the reference at all! The standard is to keep the egg color white but so far our pink egg Cuckoo has been so much healthier than the two Blue's we've had. Just have to give the Cuckoo time to see if she outlives the Blue hen we had which only made it to 11/2 years and layed snowy white eggs. There is definitely a personality loss between the Cuckoo and the Blue (B/B/S) Breda. Our Cuckoo is taller/heavier than the Blue and the Cuckoo is much more shy and not as outgoing toward humans as our Blue's were. But the Cuckoo has more splendid feathered feet/toes and vulture hocks than either of the Blue's and her eggs are larger. We had two Blue's from two different breeders from different States and both Blue's came out of the shipping box as friendly as if they knew us all their life. Meanwhile, the Cuckoo was not outgoing, a bit timid, and took a while to warm up to human interaction. However, the Cuckoo still retains the docile gentle temperament we like in a large fowl which you don't generally get in other more common varieties of egg layers or dual purpose breeds. This brings me back around to why I adore the Blue Breda over any of the other colors -- their curious outgoing unafraid demeanor and their snowy white eggs are so pretty. Or did I just get lucky getting two wonderful Blue Breda crossing my threshold?

Meanwhile, talked with another rare Pita Pinta breeder who said they liked to breed not only from their older hardy 2 year old hens but also their 1 year old pullets. They said the younger hens layed firmer shells compared to the weaker shells of the older breeding hens. Their solution was to breed from both 1 and 2 year olds and keep good records of which offspring came from which parents and to monitor survival issues. Apparently the rare Pita Pinta are having fertility issues as well. Guess that's the bane of having rare breeds. The Pita Pinta are apparently a gentle docile breed like the Breda are and are worth perfecting too.

For a rare breed I continue being amazed at the prolific egg laying of the Breda. Again, don't know if it's what I'm feeding them, the climate, the environment, or if I just got lucky getting good Breda layers. I want to think that they are just the best all-round backyard breed to have.

 

[maryellen21]

Rooster lockdown is a week from tomorrow. I'm down to 15 eggs now. Which is still great for shipped eggs.

 

[maryellen21]

I'm going to stick to my black and mottled breda. Just a personal preference.

 

[chicken danz]

Not to make anyone mad or anything but I know a good bit about getting chocolate Breda the breeder I got my orginal Breda from a couple years back had chicks hatching out the year I got mine that were chocolate but he never finished the project cause he got rid of all his Bredas any way getting on to the point it doesn't matter if you cross a black rooster too a chocolate hen or a chocolate rooster to a black hen it's just easier to use a chocolate rooster to a black Breda hen because if u cross a chocolate rooster to a black Breda hen the chicks that hatched would be some black and some chocolate the chocolate ones would be a female but if u cross a black Breda rooster to a chocolate hen all chicks would be black and the chicks from that mating that would be a black male carrying the chocolate gene u would cross it to a black Breda hen and 25% of the chicks would be 75% breda that would be chocolate colored

You are right. I wrote that backwards. You use a chocolate rooster with a black hen and get all chocolate pullets. I didn't proofread what I wrote. Then breed the chocolate pullets back to the split males. (which would be black but have the chocolate gene.
@maryellen21 I'm not crossing my Bredas either. They are beautiful as they are.

 

[maryellen21]

I'm going to stick to my black and mottled breda. Just a personal preference. I have other color chickens to satisfy my need for different colors

 

[rooster 2011]

I got my Breda chicks in the mail from Dutch connection farm today I have 4 cuckoo 2 mottled and 1 split I'll post pics sometime today

 

[maryellen21]

Oh rooster I can't wait to see pics! !!!

 

[maryellen21]

Pics rooster?????