In order to maintain healthy genetics in the stock, should I seek a rooster from another source? Although it isn't certain, all of these chicks may have come from the same hatch, as they all came from the same breeder (Ideal Poultry).
I have been waiting to have enough time to explain this properly, since Leslie and Chris have also brought it up.
When breeding chickens, it's best to line breed. Chickens have so many hidden traits that can pop up, in order to get any predictable uniformity, you must limit the variables.
When you cross two unrelated lines, you are creating such a huge mix of genes that it will be years -maybe decades- before you can eliminate the now many genes that produce undesirable traits and are able to get offspring that have uniform desired qualities that breed true.
Mixing lines is probably one of the most common newbie mistakes that rookie breeders make and it sets you up for years of work that could have been avoided if you would have stuck with one strain.
Chickens are not simply what you can see. Their genetic makeup is an entire mix of traits that are hidden.
Some new breeders assume that it is needed for vigor or to prevent inbreeding.
Unless you know for certain that a line has inbreeding depression, it's not necessary to cross different lines. If it's not broke, don't fix it! Inbreeding is necessary in chicken breeding or you will never get desired results that breed true. Many sources, like hatcheries, have already been mixing so many lines that there isn't any inbreeding depression, so it's usually not a concern.
If inbreeding depression has shown itself to be an issue, long time breeders know that you don't just cross in a different line. You do an experimental side breeding, to see what happens without ruining your entire line.
The best way is not to cross lines at all but to get some birds from another breeder who has the same line.
Here are multiple quotes that I've saved, words of wisdom from long time respected breeders:
From Judge/breeder Phil Bartz "The biggest killer of good "lines" is not staying with those lines by right away putting this line with that and ending up with more junk than you can imagine. Why? You have just made hodge podgegenetics and unknowns that have laid dormant for years can reveal themselves in huge percentages even though both lines didn't show any signs of having issues. You slowly introduce new male or sometimes females to your current breeding line by small pen matings of what you hope to accomplish by the intro with your line and then see what happens. It will take three years to know any sure continuation of successes of the cross to continue breeding true to that improvement staying put. You stick with your main line and when you feel comfortable the cross is worth the risk then you can switch to keeping this new intro improvement as your main "line" while always keeping a few of your originals just in case you ever need to go back to that or use it for vigor improvement crosses back into the "new improved line" five to seven years down the road. "
From breeder Bob Blosl
"Kathy do not cross any barred rocks to the three trios that you got from Nebraska. If you do the Gods from Plymouth Rock heven will strike lighting onto your incubator. If you ever need to cross new blood you go back to Frank or Jerimie in Nebraska. If you out cross this line you will loose everything that has been built over the last fifty years. Stay with what you have and just try to tie a not on the end of the rope and hang on to what you got."
"Be patient and dont cross stains and like Charlie the secret is to get a buddy or two and then every four or five years swap birds or rotate your breeders to the right as I ex planed in my line breeding article I wrote for another web site. Out crossing can bring in undesirable traits"
"you are so correct on having two or three people having your birds and hoping and praying they stick with it for many years. This way you can go back to one of them and get a male or female cross the bird back to your line and get yourself a fresh shot of blood. This way and this is the breeding secret of Rhode Island Reds in my view is dont cross strains for fresh blood."
"I am not much of a fan of crossing lines as it opens up the back door for pesty faults than can drive you nuts."
