Breeding Chickens That Were Hatched Together

[weezyfno]

Not sure if this is the right thread but I was wondering if it's alright to let chickens mate who are siblings? I mean, I'm not letting them but they run free and I'm sure will keep breeding.

If not, what should I do to make them stop? Trap and cull?

 

[Cack-a-doodle]

Na nothing will happen but if this cotinues for severel generations you should introduce new blood

 

[Egghead_Jr]

It's done quite often but the preferred matings are father to daughter or mother to son and even better is to aunts or uncles to keep up genetic diversity.

It would take many many generations for the line to weaken. Flocks that have been closed (mating only onto themselves) for decades start to lose vigor and hatch rates begin to suffer. The cure is to bring in a cock bird and voila all the next generation hatch well and the flock has infusion of 1/2 new blood.