Quote:
Since many of these hatcheries buy form several breeders, who's to say that a rogue RIR rooster didn't breed with a Buckeye hen or two somewhere along the way?
That very issue came up for a member here who bought from Ideal, if you take a look at Marlinchaser's link, you'll see.
Also, re: hatcheries and outcrossing, it's not necessarily a "lack of control." It's more like a sensible economic strategy. You see, when a breed is as endangered and rare as the Buckeye (under 500 breeding birds in the entire US according to the ALbC), and you are a major hatchery looking to make some money on volume sales, you have a dilemma, namely, how do you fill all those orders with so few birds? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that outcrossing makes a lot of good ole financial sense in this scenario, which is why most preservation breeders steer clear of hatcheries.
Now, I'm not merely knocking the hatcheries, because they do a world of good, especially by providing a variety of breeds with good production qualities to folks for farm and homestead use, but for most preservation breeders who are interested in a particular level of genuineness, there may be better (albeit less convenient) options... It absolutely depends on what you want the birds for. But since you cite "excellence" as one of your criteria, well, then...
Since many of these hatcheries buy form several breeders, who's to say that a rogue RIR rooster didn't breed with a Buckeye hen or two somewhere along the way?
That very issue came up for a member here who bought from Ideal, if you take a look at Marlinchaser's link, you'll see.
Also, re: hatcheries and outcrossing, it's not necessarily a "lack of control." It's more like a sensible economic strategy. You see, when a breed is as endangered and rare as the Buckeye (under 500 breeding birds in the entire US according to the ALbC), and you are a major hatchery looking to make some money on volume sales, you have a dilemma, namely, how do you fill all those orders with so few birds? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that outcrossing makes a lot of good ole financial sense in this scenario, which is why most preservation breeders steer clear of hatcheries.
Now, I'm not merely knocking the hatcheries, because they do a world of good, especially by providing a variety of breeds with good production qualities to folks for farm and homestead use, but for most preservation breeders who are interested in a particular level of genuineness, there may be better (albeit less convenient) options... It absolutely depends on what you want the birds for. But since you cite "excellence" as one of your criteria, well, then...
Last edited:
