Breda Fowl thread

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maryellen21 said:
Im looking for any color, doesnt matter.
My blacks seem hardier. And bigger. The mottled ones are smaller and not as hardy.
Supposedly i heard since the gene pool is so small its hard to get them to live to 2 . i lost a mottled female to cocci , its been so wet here with the rain.
Click to expand...
I don't have any for you yet, but I will be breeding in the Spring form my girls.
 
I have three Blue/Splash hens that would be hitting their 4th birthday this spring. We lost two to predators and one to heat on a 105+ def weather day. So... three out of three made it past two years. The aren’t our most hardy breed but there shouldn’t be any problem with getting them to live past two year under normal conditions.

maryellen21 said:
Im looking for any color, doesnt matter.
My blacks seem hardier. And bigger. The mottled ones are smaller and not as hardy.
Supposedly i heard since the gene pool is so small its hard to get them to live to 2 . i lost a mottled female to cocci , its been so wet here with the rain.
Click to expand...
 
maryellen21 said:
Im looking for any color, doesnt matter.
My blacks seem hardier. And bigger. The mottled ones are smaller and not as hardy.
Supposedly i heard since the gene pool is so small its hard to get them to live to 2 . i lost a mottled female to cocci , its been so wet here with the rain.
Click to expand...

I'm so sorry you lost a female. These girls are so precious it's a tragedy to lose even ONE!

GaryDean26 said:
I have three Blue/Splash hens that would be hitting their 4th birthday this spring. We lost two to predators and one to heat on a 105+ def weather day. So... three out of three made it past two years. The aren’t our most hardy breed but there shouldn’t be any problem with getting them to live past two year under normal conditions.
Click to expand...

There have been problems with limited gene pool and inbreeding -- so if you have Breda over 2 yrs old please BREED THEM while they're still fertile. Breeders are having problems getting this breed to live past their first year. You're our only hope, Obi Wan Kenobi!!!! You have such vast knowledge on breeding BBS in general you'd be a great asset for keeping our precious Breda going. Seriously, if you have hardy stock that gets past two years, breed them. There are some considering cross-breeding to infuse hardier genetics into the pool and then breed back for correct type and you know what a long breeding process THAT can take -- because obviously Greenfire is not importing fresh Breda blood/stock anytime soon or ever?! Canada has a couple breeders but we can't cross country borders to get their gene pool.
 
We got 5 Blue/Black/Splash Breda eggs from Green Fire Farm in 2012. We had two hatch that resulted in a Blue pullet and a Blue cockerel. We didn’t have coop space to keep a cockerel but want 2-3 hens for the laying flock so we set a dozen eggs and sold the pair. That pair is the only pair of chickens I have ever regretted selling after they were gone. We ended up with five cockerels and a pullet from the hatch. We wanted more that one hen so we kept the best cockerel (who was a very good quality bird). The following year we built new coops and were going to start a legitimate breeding program. We hatch about 35 Breda from that pair. We however got MS in our flock that year. The young Breda did not fair well. The cavernous nostrils seemed really to swell up and worse than our other breeds. We ended up culling all 35 to ride the MS from the flock. The following year we hatched from the F1 pair again in a single hatch. We then moved chicks to a new location away from the parent stock and rebuilt an MS free flock. We had 4-5 pullets and 4-5 cockerels in that hatch. We culled all the cockerels and after predators were left with 3 hens. One one blue hens was good enough to breed. I was going to wait until she was 4 years old and source a cockerel to hatch more from her in her 5th year. We lost her to summer heat. Yes it was a big lost. She was at least three generations remover from any other Breda in the world and had good vigor. We had gone through about 50 Breda and she was one of the best. I am not sure why breeders can’t keep birds alive for more than a year. The Breda is a good breed and shouldn’t have any problems with making it past 6-7 years. Hatching large groups and culling deep for vigor should be the standard practice. We are a small scale hobby breeders and have grown out as many as 200 birds in a year over several breeds only to keep about 8 birds for breeding. Breeding for vigor is our first priority. I may get more Breda to work with. I want cuckoo and self Blue. Anyone have them.
 
GaryDean26 said:
We got 5 Blue/Black/Splash Breda eggs from Green Fire Farm in 2012. We had two hatch that resulted in a Blue pullet and a Blue cockerel. We didn’t have coop space to keep a cockerel but want 2-3 hens for the laying flock so we set a dozen eggs and sold the pair. That pair is the only pair of chickens I have ever regretted selling after they were gone. We ended up with five cockerels and a pullet from the hatch. We wanted more that one hen so we kept the best cockerel (who was a very good quality bird). The following year we built new coops and were going to start a legitimate breeding program. We hatch about 35 Breda from that pair. We however got MS in our flock that year. The young Breda did not fair well. The cavernous nostrils seemed really to swell up and worse than our other breeds. We ended up culling all 35 to ride the MS from the flock. The following year we hatched from the F1 pair again in a single hatch. We then moved chicks to a new location away from the parent stock and rebuilt an MS free flock. We had 4-5 pullets and 4-5 cockerels in that hatch. We culled all the cockerels and after predators were left with 3 hens. One one blue hens was good enough to breed. I was going to wait until she was 4 years old and source a cockerel to hatch more from her in her 5th year. We lost her to summer heat. Yes it was a big lost. She was at least three generations remover from any other Breda in the world and had good vigor. We had gone through about 50 Breda and she was one of the best. I am not sure why breeders can’t keep birds alive for more than a year. The Breda is a good breed and shouldn’t have any problems with making it past 6-7 years. Hatching large groups and culling deep for vigor should be the standard practice. We are a small scale hobby breeders and have grown out as many as 200 birds in a year over several breeds only to keep about 8 birds for breeding. Breeding for vigor is our first priority. I may get more Breda to work with. I want cuckoo and self Blue. Anyone have them.
Click to expand...

Hurray for GaryDean26! I get so excited about Breda and people who have the space and zoning to have breeding projects!!!!!

Dutch Connection back east has the Cuckoo Breda if they haven't phased out yet. I think they got stock years ago from Canada when it was easier to cross mutual borders -- but don't quote me on that. Anyway, I ordered my Cuckoo hen from RFR of CA and she got her stock from Dutch Connection I believe. The Cuckoo hen I have is incredibly tall, regal stance, sleek body (not fat), and well-formed crest tassle, hocks, V-nostrils and feathered legs/toes. Her eggs are larger than the Blue Breda I had but the Blue Breda was a bit more prolific layer. My Blue girl was very outgoing and friendly and I miss her so much. I'm grateful to have my Cuckoo now -- she's quite timid around my assertive Dominiques but Doms aren't combative -- my Cuckoo Breda has just always been a timid personality. She wasn't much to look at as a pullet but started to look regal as she approached her first year.
 

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