gjensen
I was answering the "why" with my own reasoning behind what "my"Some goals are. Trust I wasnt challenging anyone or yourself. I just read alot about people crossing chickens and ask the same question. Some people just wanna see what they get and dont have a goal or mindset of what they are doing. They are curious and just do it to do it.
People like to play and experiment. There is nothing wrong with that. I did it for years, and still do on a different level. Some might become interested in real breeding. Most will not, but occasionally one will. I wish more would, because that is where the fun is. In the attempt to "perfect" something.
It is easy to start something. A 12 year old kid can cross this with that to see what happens. I know because I did. I tried things with feed store chicks. In the spring I was cutting grass to buy chicks, chicken wire, and chicken feed. I always thought I was doing something, but I wasn't though. It was delusions of grandeur. LOL. Not to mention that it never lasted long.
Things changed and I took a break. I started playing with colored pet store mice. It is amazing how many colors, patterns, fur types etc. you can isolate with some mixed up mice. I would identify them, and then get them breeding true. Then cross them to come up with something new. I played with increasing size, shrinking size etc. etc. You can get a lot of generations out of them annually, so you can accomplish a lot in a short period of time.
When I bought my first piece of property at 20, I picked the chickens back up. "Rhode Island Reds" from Mcmurray. They were more like Reds then than they are now. I knew nothing of the internet, a Standard, or anything. I had my own ideal stamped in my head based on impressions. I had already learned the basic concepts and went to work. I had learned from observation the importance of culling, and to limit the amount of points of selection in a given year, etc.
I decided that I wanted to try improving the carcass, and qty and size of eggs laid. There used to be deals where you could get free sex linked cockerels with a purchased bag of feed. I used a male to cross on my "reds". I ruined my type, lost size, but the offspring were excellent layers. I decided to go for a barred red bird, and keep "my ideals" starting with a black sex linked male. After a few generations, I learned that red is not a good color for barring.
Something I noticed was that the shorter wider birds were faster to flesh out so I emphasized it. I also came to prefer the lighter even colored reds. The black tails was a nice contrast etc. Still to this day my favorite colors are black tailed white, red, and buff.
I ended up meeting an older man picking up cheaper feed out of town (there was no Tractor Supplies then LOL). He came and looked at my flock, and took some interest in me. I picked up a lot from him. Then I went to his place. He had the best Reds that I had ever seen at the time. They were not as dark as the exhibition strains are, but they had excellent type. The uniformity impressed me. Especially with the variability I had at home. I was only gradually figuring out what I liked. I did not even know anyone that had chickens before him. I had a mixed up bunch concerning type, and his were like peas in a pod.
He gave me some eggs if I promised not to cross them. I raised a batch out, and I was smitten. They did not lay quite as well as mine, but they had a better carcass. They were good layers though. The eggs were also a nice rich brown, and the eggs were uniform in shape and quality. This man culled eggs religiously, and now I do. Egg size and quality is still a big deal to me.
I scrapped the birds I had realizing I had something that was worth something more. They were nice birds.
About ten years ago when I moved where I am, I gave the flock away. I figured that I could get a new start. The old man passed away, his birds were gone, and the new owner of mine let his own dogs get to them. He replaced them with 10 dollar spent hens from a trader paper. Decades of that mans commitment to that fine flock was lost to history. I still regret what I did, or did not do.
That is where I decided I was going to commit to a breed, and the added challenge that goes with it. I decided to go with NHs because they had the type that I come to appreciate and the color that I came to admire. The problem was that there was none that was worth anything to be had. Just junk scrawny poorly colored hatchery birds. They were not even NHs. They were only red. LOL.
Now I have added the Catalana. I proved to myself that I can maintain something, and gradually improve something. I wanted a re building project that I could call my own. The fundamentals of the color was one I had become familiar with.
I enjoy the challenge of the problems. I enjoy the challenge of the color, the feather, the comb, the tail, the vigor, the health, the type, the size, the egg qty/quality and size, etc. etc. 10 years from now, I want to have something that is worth something, and call it my own. I will know where they started.
So I have been there. I can relate with both sides. I only decided to take a step forward concerning the challenge, and breed productive birds that have history and a Standard. I can still experiment, but the experiments are side mating hoping to improve what I am working on.
