@CanuckBock that's a pretty sad story about that "fella that ran a preservation/trust farm for poultry." :-(
Quite common story unfortunately. Kinda sad to see a whole life's work add up to no living legacy.
I know fellow breeders that have the same kinda luck in regards to passing things along. One fella got a line of show birds ready for one person to show here in Alberta. He went to immense troubles and while the birds did OK, the next year they did terrible. The purchaser had no clue about training and fitting for show and in the case of many birds, someone keen in the art of showing may take a sow's ear and turn it into a silk purse...just naturally. Others can completely ruin a good bird simply because they know no better. Lots of times if you ask the shower if they created the bird and you'll find out quickly they always buy what they show, never put their own spin on it.
It use to be that people were uneducated about double mating. Would buy both genders of a show line at great expense not knowing the non-showing side of the breeding pen was missing. You need one pen for female show birds (pullet breeders) and one pen of male show birds (cockerel breeders) in both genders to make more show birds. I kind of chuckle to myself when I get queried about say my Partridge Chanteclers/Brahmas or my Pastel Call Ducks. I innocently ask the inquirer, "Are you interested in the male or female lines in this breed's variety?" and get the "HUH?" response. With us old timers, much is going to our graves but not because we want it that way, eh.
I recall one season I started to get all these calls for production birds...Rhodes, Cornish, Plymouth...Rouen & Pekins, then realized...the two hatcheries had dropped these breeds and then the one year, all waterfowl were not allowed cross border. The two big hatcheries are not really "hatcheries" at all as they would import ALL the day olds from the US...at least I got told that. Then the one year a hatchery got some disorder from not properly cleaning its water supply and chicks were sent out that infected people's flocks. Not at all fun...having to kill your entire stocks because you brought in 25 hatchery chicks.
There have been TERRIBLE hits to keeping a home flock but alot do this "all in and all out" and I cannot imagine doing it myself.
They buy whatever the hatcheries have on offer, grow them out, have the eggs or meat and then "off with their heads" so they have NO winter chores and no birds to carry onwards with. Then think they can rely on the commercial enterprises to always be there supplying what they want the next spring. For me, no way. Waited like five years for some of our strains and when we received them, maintained and then built upon what we got.
Self-sufficiency. Never thought much of myself as one of those, not like I will live off grid but I will grow my own veg, fruits and meats. So sorta that kinda amusing hippy type attitude.
Peace Bro...have a flower! Nyuck, nyuck...
