Zanna, nice to have an update from you. It brings up a question that I've been considering.
Since we are all starting out with a small number of these Dels from Kathy, how important is creating breeding groups or families, so that you make a wider genetic pool?
Do we just breed the best to the best, complimentary matings, with no regard to how they are related?
Or, do we breed as many as possible at first, so that we have more diverse genetics within our flock?
I only have 4 breedable F4 hens from Kathy. I planned on making several "family groups" by using 4 males with these hens. Except, now I'm down to 2 F4 cocks. All 86 offspring this year was from 1 of those cocks. The second male is showing a bit of brassiness.
So, I wonder if I should just continue on, breeding the best to the best from the small gene pool of 4 hens & 1 cock? Or do I use the brassy cock to create another genetic group?
Complicating this is the fact that a couple of those 4 hens were producers of better offspring than the other 2. Yet, those same two hens produced defects ie cross beak.
With 4 breedable hens, it would be wise to work back away. Initially this strain had enough to pay little regard to it while looking for something to base a family on. 4 hens would mean two families to me.
I would not use a brassy male.
Best to best, breeding extremes, complimentary mating, etc can change from year to year etc. You see what you like, know what you want, and know where the problems are.
Brother and sister mating is no closer than parent offspring mating initially. Repeated, the accumulation is faster with brother sister mating. It takes more than one generation before the two options begin to have separation between the two. I believe that brother sister mating can be a tool to set a line or a characteristic etc. In such a case, it seams better to do it on the side and to hatch many from this group. Again, a parent offspring mating is no less close, unless it continues to be repeated.
You do not want to get to tight until you like what you have. Try to hold on to characteristics that your best birds do not have. They could be useful in side mating etc. We do not want to lose what we have. There will be some variation from flock to flock, but the tendencies will be generalized because the starting point was the same. In other words many of the same problems that you could have, might be had in other flocks of the same strain. Once a strength is lost, we cannot rely on it magically reappearing at some point. Even that it is possible to get a throwback that is useful.
Side mating adds diversity when a trait that is realized reliably could be introduced into an individual family. From my perspective, I have everything I need. I do not have it all in an individual at this point. I did not even have all that I needed, so I had to bring something in. I have a modified grading project that I hope is successful enough to use them as an outcross.
There is more to cross beak than a simple recessive. It seams best to treat it as a recessive, and if it becomes problematic, test mate. I would be reluctant to repeat a mating that produced offspring with crossed beaks. Particularly this early in the game, where it could be left lingering underneath the surface to deal with in future generations. At this point, culling the offspring and scrapping the parents could be all that it took to eliminate it from the flock. Three or four generations from now, it could be especially problematic.
How many to breed is a personal decision depending on how important it is to you to remain independent. It takes a qty. of birds to remain independent for long periods of time. Regardless, I believe that mating in small groups is best where it is easier to identify the contributors of both good and bad. Furthermore, I want the opportunity to use more males rather than commit all of my eggs to one or two baskets. I at least want to keep some back up in case a sire does not perform adequately when I prove him by his offspring. Regardless of what is best for an individual, how many hatched could be considered directly related. The less adults I keep, means the more eggs I want to set per mating. Where the more adults I kept, the less I would be concerned with hatching per hen. They qty. of offspring hatched not only allows for added variation to select from, but contributes to genetic diversity as a result.
As these individual flocks began to separate from each other, I would not be reluctant to get a bird from birds that were strong where I was weak. That is an advantage that you guys have the opportunity to realize.
I hope that this contains something useful. I have a different project, but I do have a re building project. These types of projects are exceedingly challenging except for those that have mediocre standards. It is easy to make something, but difficult to perfect. My project, and as a result, my perspective is different. Some of the concepts are the same, so I like to share my thoughts. I am learning as I go myself. I have done nothing to brag on. I do feel that I have made progress locating the puzzle pieces. Now it is time for me to start putting the puzzle pieces together. It took me three generations just to accomplish this.
