Breeding for disease resistance

[chicken crazed 1o1]

Has anybody heard of breeding to disease resistance as I have done some reading on this regarding livestock.
Does anybody know if this would work with poultry?
It said to breed the infected animal with the one that shows the least sighs and then do that with theoffspring untill there are know signs : culling the offspring that show the most sighs. Would that work ?

 

[speckledhen]

No, it wouldn't work with chickens, sorry. If a bird has had, say CRD, then it is a carrier, always will be. It is not resistant, even if there were few symptoms and it is not currently symptomatic.

The ONLY way to breed for resistance against respiratory illness is to breed only those who NEVER catch it in the first place. You cannot breed for resistance in chickens by breeding those who have been infected-those birds have compromised immune systems.

For example, one of my 5 year old hens had a fungal infection (not contagious, a situational illness) then developed a bacterial infection as a secondary infection. When we called the state vet in GA to consult him about her, he was surprised at her age, that she had never been ill, never had mycoplasmosis. He said that she was highly resistant. That means, she would be one to breed from, not one who had ever had it in the first place.

 

[ChicKat]

Has anybody heard of breeding to disease resistance as I have done some reading on this regarding livestock.
Does anybody know if this would work with poultry?
It said to breed the infected animal with the one that shows the least sighs and then do that with theoffspring untill there are know signs : culling the offspring that show the most sighs. Would that work ?

Hi chicken crazed--

You have brought up a good idea that everyone raising chickens should work on IMO.

Gail Damerow spends a couple of pages on this in her book: the Chicken Health Handbook Some of the things she says are somewhat similar to what you mentioned*..."Breeding for Resistance" is located BTW on pages 11-13... One of the bullet points on a box on page 12 "..............Chicks hatched from survivors of disease exposure are particularly hearty and may carry maternal antibodies that give them further immunity. (Be sure that the disease cannot be egg-transmitted from survivor-carriers to their chicks.)"

Presently I have some pullets who's mother had a pen-mate that died of Marek's she and the other pullet in that pen did not get or show Marek's....... I'm hoping these two 12-week olds have some resistance. As chicken raisers, I wish we would all explore this and strive for more......

Glad that you brought up the topic.

* To clarify she says exposed whereas your source said infected...quite a different thing...but still getting away from the idea of "boy-in-the-bubble" type of sterile world.

Here's another valuable quote from the same book (can you tell I like Gail Damerow's books for their thoroughness and easy referenceability?)

"When only certain strains or individuals are resistant to a disease immunity is 'partial.' Chickens have partial immunity to Marek's disease, since some strains never succumb to the otherwise common killer. In nearly every disease outbreak, some individuals do not become infected due to inherited immunity. Those are the birds you'll want in your breeder flock if you wish to breed for resistance, as described in chapter 1." p198

 

[donrae]

I thought I was breeding for disease resistance by not breeding animals that get sick?

 

[NYREDS]

You absolutely can breed for disease resistance, i've been doing it for years. You don't do it by breeding from birds that got sick though, you do it by breedingfrom birds that didn't get sick. Breeding from birds that got sick produces more birds with a propensity toward illness.
For breeding for resistance to be successful there are things you have to commit to: ruthless culling of any bird that gets sick & NOT medicating birds that get sick. If you're able to stick to those principals, in a few generations, you'll have produced a flock of birds that virtually never produce a sick bird. I've bred this way for years & my chicken medicine cabinat consists of louse powder, a coccidiostat & a hatchet. It's been years since I had a sick bird.
For reading on this I'd suggest "Chicken Diseases by Fred Jeffery, Published by the American Bantam Association.

 

[clanross]

You absolutely can breed for disease resistance, i've been doing it for years. You don't do it by breeding from birds that got sick though, you do it by breedingfrom birds that didn't get sick. Breeding from birds that got sick produces more birds with a propensity toward illness.
For breeding for resistance to be successful there are things you have to commit to: ruthless culling of any bird that gets sick & NOT medicating birds that get sick. If you're able to stick to those principals, in a few generations, you'll have produced a flock of birds that virtually never produce a sick bird. I've bred this way for years & my chicken medicine cabinat consists of louse powder, a coccidiostat & a hatchet. It's been years since I had a sick bird.
For reading on this I'd suggest "Chicken Diseases by Fred Jeffery, Published by the American Bantam Association.

I would very much like to join a group that supports those of us who are trying to breed for resistance -- especially to Marek's. In a couple of the Facebook groups I am in, my posts have been deleted because I referred to the Jeffrey book and said that there is science to back up breeding for resistance. Some admins were quite abrupt. No real discussion, just shut anyone down who goes against their dogma. I am in Virginia and am just starting. I'm in the hard early years where I expect to lose a lot of birds. I could use a bit of support. Tyia.

 

[cubalaya]

Yes it is possible and we should all breed for resistance. It takes years and it hinges on culling and selection especially in the beginning. I dont vaccine for anything and i dont think any backyard breeders should have vaccinated chickens for Marek's

 

[LayMeARainbow]

I would very much like to join a group that supports those of us who are trying to breed for resistance -- especially to Marek's. In a couple of the Facebook groups I am in, my posts have been deleted because I referred to the Jeffrey book and said that there is science to back up breeding for resistance. Some admins were quite abrupt. No real discussion, just shut anyone down who goes against their dogma. I am in Virginia and am just starting. I'm in the hard early years where I expect to lose a lot of birds. I could use a bit of support. Tyia.

Hi Tyia
I was very interested to come across this thread and your post. I too am in the early years of breeding for resistance. I note you are further along since you wrote the message and would love to hear how it‘s going.
Cheers
Jane