Breeding

[minna]

I have several breeding questions.
I have a gorgeous dark buff orphington roo. I would like my entire flock to have his coloring, How do I go about breeding that color in? Do I pick the darkest pullets I get off of him to breed with and get rid of the rest? And keep this going for as many generations as it takes?

Also, on all my birds, I would like to get them closer to standard, around here a red chicken is starting to become just a red chicken and I want to stand out from that. So do I only breed the ones with the best qualities?

And last but not least, I would like to have an apa standard book for quick reference, I really can't afford the color right now, is the black and white just as good for a beginner and what about the black and white illustration book?

Any help would be appreciated. I am trying to learn all I can.

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

I would suggest keeping only the darkest birds and breed from them if thats what you like.

The black and white APA standard is just as good as the color one, there are only a few new breeds/varieties in the color one that arent in the B&W.

 

[MoodyChicken]

Buff Orpingtons, according to the Standard, should neither be dark or light, they should be in-between and they should be the same color from top to bottom. If you choose to breed them dark, breed your dark male to your darkest female, and backcross daughter to father and son to mother the next generation. You should then have a flock that breeds dark.

It depends on the breed. There are specific traits for each breed. Feed store birds rarely are shining examples of their breed; it's best to find a reliable breeder. But if you have something you like, breed only from your birds and backcross. Breed for the traits you want, or that the Standard calls for. After a few generations all your birds will look alike.

The black and white Standard has better pictures, in my opinion. The birds shown have IDEAL type, while the colored book doesn't show the type as well.

 

[minna]

By dark I don't mean red, that would defeat the purpose. I mean not washed out. Never mind. Thanks, I will order the b&w and will try to figure the breeding out. I just need to figure out how to decided which ones to breed to which ones.

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

Quote:
I agree, I love the black and white drawings, they seem much more detailed, some of them actually look like photographs.

 

[minna]

Oh, so they are drawings? Interesting. I thought it was just black and white photos, that's why I couldn't understand why you could see better than with color. I get it now! Thanks!