Breeding: Does Size or marking's matter more? PIC'S

[k2chickens]

Well i am going to keep a rooster out of the 6 mille Fleur D'Uccle roo's i hatched 7 weeks ago. I will be using him for a "back up" breeding rooster if my main man does not want to do his job for me when the girls start laying.

Keep in mind i will be breeding for quality and or SQ offspring. So..should i keep the biggests and darkest's little roo i got, or should i keep the best marked one..i.e most spangeld. Reason i ask is my biggests guy hardly has any good marking's on him, but one of my other medium sized roo's has very nice spangels comeing in..but his comb is not as tall and bright as my bigger boy.

Also, do i need to consider my little boy's beard's too when it comes down to decision time? As well as their tail feathering? Some guy's have darker/taller tails than the others as well.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Select first for type, then for pattern & other traits. That said, a bird who has okay type but is excellent in every other way may be a better breeder than one who has excellent type but is lousy in a number of other areas.

Some characteristics are easier or harder to deal with, so it is difficult to give a answer that is correct every time.

In consideration of size, as long as it is not drastically different than the standard, I think that that is not something I would select based upon.

Mille fleur is not a variety that I breed, so I am not sure how one selects. I do know that as the birds age they get more white. I guess what I am saying is that I don't know the correct amount of spangling for a near breeding age cockerel. I know that I have seen very dark, nearly brown male milles. To me that doesn't look correct.

And yes, you need to select based upon all traits.

 

[wombat]

I know very little about breeding chickens, and nothing at all about breeding for show.

I do know about breeding dogs, however, and the fascination with "bigger" has caused many skeletal problems with large breed dogs. In dog breeding, there is a breed standard that indicates what's desirable in a breed, and size has both a minimum and a maximum. I don't know if this holds with breeding chickens, but I would think that selecting for size repeatedly might not be the ideal approach.

 

[Chris09]

Like Sonoran Silkies said..
I was always told you have to build the barn before you paint it..

Chris

 

[k2chickens]

Quote:
thank's but that did not help me too much lol. I believe i have narrowed it down to 2 guy's im fighting in my mind over. Perhap's posting some pictures of the two would help?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Probably. At least then we see the tradeoffs.

 

[k2chickens]

ok then...takeing pictures now, will be up in a few

 

[Cuban Longtails]

Quote:
I got told that too.

Very good advice too, as some folks tend to focus more on coloring than type.

 

[k2chickens]

pic's up

the middle one in the first picture is spangleing nice, but the other 2 have very nice neck feather markings. I'm leaning towards picking the one who has a large spangle on the left front side in the last picture.

 

[onthespot]

On the cochins I know it takes time to see if the mille pattern is going to be any good. I would wait if I were you. Sometimes what looks like a great cockerel at six weeks gets totally left in the dust at four months old...