Dark Egg Breeds Thread

[drom]

Beautiful eggie pictures Cowgirlgrace, Ksf59 and Pink!

 

[Cowgirlgrace]

Quote:
Well, thats good news. Must have just been one of those old wives tales. Was a little worried since my BCM are in a new pen next to the Black Orpingtons and the BCM have beat up their combs trying to KILL the BO roos. The Black Orps are so mellow though. They just stand there and look at the BCM like they are psycho!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Quote:
I have not bred chickens but I do know a bit about genetics and animal husbandry. IMO It is far better to breed two unrelated birds of very dark shell genes. By compounding the effect of the dark shell, breeding related birds you are also are replicating and exacerbating any and all inferior qualities in your birds (some of which may not be apparent or manifested in those individuals).
As an example, this is why some breeds of dogs have bad hips, etc.

 

[Medicine Man]

Quote:
I have not bred chickens but I do know a bit about genetics and animal husbandry. IMO It is far better to breed two unrelated birds of very dark shell genes. By compounding the effect of the dark shell, breeding related birds you are also are replicating and exacerbating any and all inferior qualities in your birds (some of which may not be apparent or manifested in those individuals).
As an example, this is why some breeds of dogs have bad hips, etc.

I would recommend familiarizing yourself with the numerous, numerous genes responsible for dark eggs before tryng to apply dog genetics to chickens.

It's not that I *completely* disagree with what you're saying, it's just a complicated issue. Line breeding is kind of essential in order to develop egg color.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Quote:
I agree, I didn't suggest that mamalian genetics equate to avian genetics. I used intensive dog breeding as an example of what unforseen dangers lurk. Perhaps a bad example - just the first that jumped to mind.

 

[knjinnm]

Quote:
I agree, I didn't suggest that mamalian genetics equate to avian genetics. I used intensive dog breeding as an example of what unforseen dangers lurk. Perhaps a bad example - just the first that jumped to mind.

ChickenCanoe is correct of course, chickens are different in that a hen can lay up to 300 eggs/year so culling and selecting for good traits is much easier plus we eat chickens so culls aren't going to waste.
Some dog and cat breeders routinely put down undesirable pups and kittens.
Joe

 

[drom]

Hi there,
What medicine man is saying is that with Marans, crossing two unrelated birds from dark eggs and dark egg laying lines will often not produce offspring which lay the same dark eggs. It often causes you to lose the dark color in your flock rather than preserve it. It doesn't always happen but often. No one knows for sure why, but it is believed that there are many pairs of genes associated with the dark egg shell color and that if you mix them up, don't pair up/match up similar genes, you end up with nothing (light eggs). This is why most people with Marans follow line-breeding practices or at least don't casually introduce unrelated birds in to their flocks regardless of whether or not they come from another dark egg laying line.


But, many, poultry people in general do seem to follow line breeding methods inside flocks for years and there is quite a bit of documentation on it on the web.

Edited to remove the formula for breeding for shell color from Resolution-I posted it on the next page

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Quote:
All excellent points. I keyed on the 'best' method and I didn't consider that the poster was focusing entirely on line breeding. Thank you all for your input. These are all important considerations that the casual breeder may not consider. My post was simply cautionary.

 

[sewandgrow]

Quote:
Myyyyyyyyyyyyyyy goodness, another thing to be concerned with, Your chickens being mad at you...LOL

 

[sewandgrow]

Quote:
IMO, Son from dark egg back to mother from dark egg and father from dark egg to fathers daughter from dark egg, did that even make sense?

Yeah, that's my understanding too. In my rabbits way back when, genetically, you didn't want to breed siblings to each other. It was said that if there was a recessive fault you could set it by doing that even though it was recessive. I am of course assuming genetic is genetic so I may be wrong. I would do mother to her father or son. Father to his daughter or mother depending on what you wanted to enhance.