Quote:
a good breeder really doesnt need that many brood pens. a brood cocks and 1/2 dz or less brood hens and you could breed for decades.....secret is selectivity. cull hard. and start with good brood fowl.
I come at this from an angle of long-term genetic conservation, not simply slowing of genetic loss through line breeding. Even in best line breeding scenario you will have to bring in new blood otherwise with each generation of birds you breed back to a net loss of alleles will occur resulting in inbreeding. You can maintain genetic variation using a smaller number of breeders using linebreeding but multiple lines will need to be maintained and that starts putting number of breeders back up into realm of what is difficult to sustain by a single household. It is the use of line breeding, relatively large flocks and frequent exchange of birds coupled with aggressive selection that cockers employ(ed) enabling persitance of so much genetic variation as a whole. Sadly this is not so well employed with production breeds which is destroying the genetic differsity needed for long-term persistance of such breeds. Some lines of games are not so good to cross while others are great. With production breeds and flocks bred for show, crossing is often avoided because many more folks think such crosses cause one to deviate from the Standard of Perfection.
not totally so. its not as a momentous undertaking as you may believe. yes a breeder may and will take a wrong turn here and there, but its possible to fix the mistake. by simply not reprudcing the brood pen. meticulous notes is a must. but thats a given for any type of breeding exercise. as mentioned, starting with strong/good brood fowl is also a must. that gets you yrs ahead of schedule. of course this is not a course for most. but its not impossible. chickens are much easier to breed and succeed at doing so than most other types of animal husbandry.
out crossing can possibly helps. but then your introducing new and unproven genetics to your line. and just b/c speciman A and speciman B is excellent, this does not mean they will do well together.
as for the science of breeding game fowl..............the general consensus amoung most modern breeders. is you keep your brood lines pure, un adulterated. then cross two lines to make you hybrid battle fowl. some may at times introduce new blood to the brood fowl, called infusing. but you can bet this is only and experimental pen or two. while you keep whats golden at 24K. till the outcrossing, infussing, etc proves itself. id say the same principle applies to most any fowl.
a good breeder really doesnt need that many brood pens. a brood cocks and 1/2 dz or less brood hens and you could breed for decades.....secret is selectivity. cull hard. and start with good brood fowl.
I come at this from an angle of long-term genetic conservation, not simply slowing of genetic loss through line breeding. Even in best line breeding scenario you will have to bring in new blood otherwise with each generation of birds you breed back to a net loss of alleles will occur resulting in inbreeding. You can maintain genetic variation using a smaller number of breeders using linebreeding but multiple lines will need to be maintained and that starts putting number of breeders back up into realm of what is difficult to sustain by a single household. It is the use of line breeding, relatively large flocks and frequent exchange of birds coupled with aggressive selection that cockers employ(ed) enabling persitance of so much genetic variation as a whole. Sadly this is not so well employed with production breeds which is destroying the genetic differsity needed for long-term persistance of such breeds. Some lines of games are not so good to cross while others are great. With production breeds and flocks bred for show, crossing is often avoided because many more folks think such crosses cause one to deviate from the Standard of Perfection.
not totally so. its not as a momentous undertaking as you may believe. yes a breeder may and will take a wrong turn here and there, but its possible to fix the mistake. by simply not reprudcing the brood pen. meticulous notes is a must. but thats a given for any type of breeding exercise. as mentioned, starting with strong/good brood fowl is also a must. that gets you yrs ahead of schedule. of course this is not a course for most. but its not impossible. chickens are much easier to breed and succeed at doing so than most other types of animal husbandry.
out crossing can possibly helps. but then your introducing new and unproven genetics to your line. and just b/c speciman A and speciman B is excellent, this does not mean they will do well together.
as for the science of breeding game fowl..............the general consensus amoung most modern breeders. is you keep your brood lines pure, un adulterated. then cross two lines to make you hybrid battle fowl. some may at times introduce new blood to the brood fowl, called infusing. but you can bet this is only and experimental pen or two. while you keep whats golden at 24K. till the outcrossing, infussing, etc proves itself. id say the same principle applies to most any fowl.
