Chicken breeding books

[cafrhe]

I am looking for some chicken breeding books for a very avid, whip smart kid who is just starting to look at breeding chickens. We have 2 types of chickens we are considering breeding right now--Rhodebars and Ameraucanas. The kid in question is very focused and will understand a lot (and mom is a biologist so I can explain the science), but still a beginner. Recommendations?

Thanks!

 

[mtngirl35]

I would recommend Storey's Guide To Raising Chickens.

 

[dheltzel]

The latest and best info is probably found online. This site and http://www.the-coop.org come to mind.

Most of the non-commercial breeding information is still in the heads of experienced breeders. Getting it out usually involves asking questions either online or in person. 4-H can be a great resource. Also, just getting to know local breeders can be a great way to get first hand experience.

If you, or the kid, have questions, put them out there. I'll certainly help as much as I can. I love chickens and children and am eager to help young people in the hobby.

 

[cafrhe]

Thanks guys!! After doing some reading on the rhodebar thread and Ameraucana thread, I decided that some of the details of genetics were beyond my interest at this point (way too many changes in the last year-including all the chicken math lol!!). But dd would eat up the genetics-like the outcrossing to rirs and then crossing back for the rhodebars, and/or the leg color and figuring out what genotype you have by the phenotype (if I said that right...)

Lol...I did a search books earlier on amazon was just went back to look for a couple of titles to run by you guys...Did the search in google and came up with a byb thread...Oh well, I didnt enter the search words correctly here earlier...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/142658/books-on-breeding-chickens

Opinions on these books? Looking for some Christmas presents for dd.

Dheitzel--thank you and I will give her your screen name. Our main issue right now is deciding what to do next. We have 2 girl rhodebar chicks that just hatched. The breeder got his stock from Greenfire farms. If we decided to get a roo, how do we know if we get different lines?

Same with the Ameraucanas...4 chicks, not sure who is a boy/girl yet...decision being-who do we get rid of and who do we bring in to improve the birds we do have?

I guess the short answer is wait to see which chick represents the breed best, right?

Again, Thanks a lot!!

 

[dheltzel]

I haven't read any of the books on that thread, but I suspect they are all worthwhile and readable by someone very dedicated to learning what they contain. Even a badly written book can create good questions to be answered via online research, something we couldn't do when I was a kid interested in chickens.

All the Rhodebars in the US are descended from GF stock. There is much speculation that they did some crossing before they released them, in any case there is already a lot of genetic variation in them and I don't worry at all about inbreeding in mine. I figure if that is a concern in a few years the folks that are working hard to improve the breed will be selling their excess males and I can buy one to be the new stud for my hens.

BTW, if you need a male RB, I will happily give you some, I have 4 young ones now that I was planning to cull very soon. Let me know if you'd like any (or all) of them. Their fate with you would be much better. You can lookup my location and decide if it would be worth the trip.

I also have BBS Ameracaunas and find them very hard to sex until they are mature. There are others in the area with various colors of Ams. Even though you are in NJ, you might consider visiting the PA message thread because it is very active and some people there might be close to you.

 

[nicalandia]

All the Rhodebars in the US are descended from GF stock. There is much speculation that they did some crossing before they released them, in any case there is already a lot of genetic variation in them and I don't worry at all about inbreeding in mine. I figure if that is a concern in a few years the folks that are working hard to improve the breed will be selling their excess males and I can buy one to be the new stud for my hens.

in a few years? this effort is already taking place.. RedRidge Farms are already doing that and I must say they are doing an exceptional job..

 

[dheltzel]

I should have said "in a few years they will be commonplace and cheap". I give away my run-of-the-mill rhodebar males now, I imagine higher quality males getting cheaper and more available over time. An easy and cheap "upgrade" for those of us with utility flocks of (potentially) inbred birds is to get one on these males as the new flock stud.