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Thanks for posting that Walt. Coming from you I'm sure it carries more weight than had I said the same.
I've often said I'm not the brightest bulb in the socket but Kenny has a way of writing so even I can get it. Moreover, even a dimwit like me knows that when you go outside your flock for some specific trait in the "new blood", you may very well bring that trait in BUT you also have NO idea what else you're bringing in. For me, the list of the "unknowns" far outweigh the benefits. And the way Kenny lays it out, it's pretty easy for me to see how one could breed a closed flock probably forever and never end up with any problems.
Plus, one of the things I'm shooting for in my breeding programs is conformity in my birds. I'd love to get to a point someday where instead of hatching a 100 chicks to keep a dozen, I could hatch 15-20 and keep a dozen with them all eventually growing up to look almost identical. Bringing in "new blood" could set that effort back who knows how many years. If, on the other hand, I find myself "losing something" or needing to focus more on a specific trait, I can still do so within my flock and hopefully still find myself moving toward that conformity.
Just such a case occurred when I unknowingly got a bad case of Barn Blinders and didn't realize it until I went to a show and saw my birds next to some others. So I had to rearrange my priorities in the subsequent breeding programs but at least I know I am fixing the problem without bringing anything else in.
God Bless,