Breeding process to get show quality chickens?

[australorp_breeder]

I was wondering what I would have to do, if possible, to get a show quality chicken out of two standard, regular-sized chickens? Would I have to breed the biggest chickens, and then breed the biggest of their offspring? I'd like to try breeding my own chickens without buying a show quality already and see what happens.

 

[Msbear]

First of all, if you want show quality, start with the best possible stock you can obtain. I suggest you purchase the "Standard of Perfection" written by the American Poultry Association and go to some shows and see what SQ really means concerning the breed you are interested in. Talk with breeders and get acquainted. Go to the farms and check out their breeders. Buy the very best birds you can afford.

There is so much more to SQ than just the "size" of the bird.


Let's just say you have a pair to start with ... a mediocre pair and you are not interested in obtaining high quality stock. The road to SQ will be long.. very long. When you let the offspring from the first pair mature, compare those offspring to the description of that breed from the SOP (standard of perfection). Keep the best ones and put them back to the parent birds. 2nd generation. Study them for the best and put them back to the first generation. Hopefully, somewhere in there you could obtain birds/eggs from better stock to cross in there to give you another jump. If not, do this for another.. 6-10+ years and, maybe, you might get some SQ birds. The longer the line, and the better the breeding, the better chance of show quality offspring.

 

[Airilith]

MsBear pretty much said it all. I would suggest that you also do some reading on basic genetics before you consider breeding. That way you'll be able to have a general idea of what you want to select for and what pairs you should breed at which stage to create what you want. I hope that makes sense. But learning about genetic dominance, recessive gene/traits, and all that will help you a whole lot in the long run.

 

[RAREROO]

Yep, they said it all.

Like I told you earlier, if you started with what you have, you would have to select the very few that have the most desirable traits and breed and repeat and breed and repeat for several years to get good SQ birds, but after all, that's how all other SQ birds would have started out as.

 

[Professional]

Msbear is right, but he's too optimistic. Yes, 6-10 years, and thousands of birds hatched to choose from, and that's all assuming that you're familiar with genetics, proper breeding protocols, and your breed. As they say, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. If you're serious, scrap the birds that you have, and invest in some show type stock. You'll save yourself a lot of time, effort and money. It will be much cheaper in the long run, and the rewards will be sooner and more easily seen.

 

[Msbear]

Hey there Professional. That's Ms as in MISS Bear

other than that, I totally agree.

 

[Pathfinders]

MsBear did say it pretty much all. My theory is, spend the most money you can afford on foundation stock from a very reputable breeder, it's very important to start with good birds! And hey, it costs just as much to feed a crappy bird as it does a good bird, so why waste time and money?

 

[Msbear]

And, when considering the cost of a good bird... $25-$50 on average and the ratio to feed.. You are so correct, Pathfinders.

You can have a top knotch show bird for the same cost as you would spend on gas in a week. It is def worth it. That vs. breeding 1,000's of low quality birds over the years and housing and feeding them

 

[NYREDS]

Quote:
Absolutely true.
Also, when I see people suggest starting with inferior birds & selectively breeding for improvement I'm reminded of the old saying "you can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear. The genetics have to be there to work with.

 

[australorp_breeder]

Quote:
Good point. Does anyone know the ratio for how much a show-quaility chicken could cost? Or does it all depend on the breeder's price? Well, I know it would depend on the breeder...