Can I breed brother and sister?

[EdenCamp]

There is something to be said for outcross vigor. As a previous poster has said if you start noticing problems with productivity, fertility, size or vigor - weakness of any sort not just the mutants you are likely worried about, it's time to bring in a cross. The problem is that at that point it's not just troubles in the males it's also in the females.

Even if you just want a nice flock for general purposes rather than trying to develop something in particular - cull! It's far better to feed and care for a few good stock than a bunch of eaters that do not deliver (a pet or two excluded of course). Otherwise you are more likely to bring down the overall quality. Example, if you eat or sell off your best, you'll retain and breed lesser birds - then your flock will of course deteriorate.

If you are trying to "do" something - the advantage of line breeding related birds is you know better what they are likely bringing to the game both with dominant and recessive (hidden) genes and traits.

 

[teresa swan]

This makes perfect sense to me. I want to keep my blue egg color but it is possible to get eggs and chicks from other people and I think that's what I will do rather than risk frail ,sickly or unproductive hens

 

[EdenCamp]

Thing is you can "cement" in positive traits as well as negative by inbreeding and line breeding.
If you get too inbred your stock will weaken, get puny, be less thrifty, lay less, be less fertile.
Recessive traits for problems, cross beak, predisposition to illnessess, what ever is lurking around the lines, "pair" up more frequently because both parents become more and more likely to carry them.

Say you want big blue eggs, good producers, early layers.

Obviously you're going to cull any non-blue eggs and non-blue egg layers.
You won't hatch from those that didn't start laying til later or cull them.
Who's laying more eggs a month?
Who's laying better through the winter?
Who lays good into 2nd or even 3rd year?
Do you even plan to keep your hens laying that long?
Do you want broody hens or more productive?
Remember, both the roo and the hens contribute to the offspring and you won't see what the offspring do til they are producing.

So yes, bringing in outside blood will inject diversity - but .. will the outcrosses be bringing in undesirable recessives and traits? Just throwing random birds together and allowing them to do thier thing or bringing in birds bred the same way may not "improve" or divert decline of the flock over time. Keep track, be selective, do some learning of how things work and have fun!

 

[Doo]

Thank you for the information. Now I can relax. I have Rhode Island rooster and three hens of different breed. Rhode Island, Sussex and Australorp.
Two have 10 chicks between them but Australorp is a young hen and I am waiting for the right time to introduce her to the rooster.

 

[Kerryssweetchickens]

Yes you can breed bro to sis, although this will emphasize both positive & negative traits.

Typically father to daughter or mother to son breeding will produce better results.

So now you got me asking! When is a good idea to bring in another rooster? I just hatched 10 silkies and 15 more in a week. Same 3 girls same 2 boys. Now, I have no idea which rooster and what hen….but maybe I should get a new couple roosters from a hatchery to keep the eggs to continue he to fertilize?

 

[Mrs. K]

It takes more fiddling, but if you are a serious breeder, you need to carefully examine your birds. You want symmetry and alignment. Then you only hatch from your best hen. So you have to determine who that is.

And keep records - measure weight, height, feather quality, breast around the keel bone, shape of toes on feet. Then pick your best birds.

However, that is a lot of work, and I tend to hatch what is at hand. In that case, a very easy way to improve your flock is a higher quality rooster...either your own, or someone else's.

Mrs K