do chickens inbreed?!

[MysteryChicken]

Friend got to 10 + generations before viability problems arose. Cockerels would lose fertility their first or second year, and most/many chicks would require assistance at hatching. Hatch % were low (I did most of his incubating), but typiness of birds hatched was high, and he consistently won with these birds.

I ran into an issue with a sibling breeding during my spring hatch. The chick died, which never happened before. I was 3-4 generations in. So I guess it varies abit.

 

[MysteryChicken]

ok thank you!!!

You're welcome.

 

[bentenmanfann]

of if i hatch out the eggs and just sold the roosters and kept the hens i would have less problems because that would keep the siblings from breeding

 

[MysteryChicken]

of if i hatch out the eggs and just sold the roosters and kept the hens i would have less problems because that would keep the siblings from breeding

You can breed siblings for a few generations before the genepool weakens, then you can take their offspring, & breed back to the Grandparents.

 

[bentenmanfann]

You can breed siblings for a few generations before the genepool weakens, then you can take their offspring, & breed back to the Grandparents.

ok thank you for the help!!

 

[MysteryChicken]

ok thank you for the help!!

You're welcome.

You could also breed back sooner before you run into issues too, but it's upto you to decide.

 

[bentenmanfann]

so basically is all about keeping that genepool strong

 

[MysteryChicken]

so basically is all about keeping that genepool strong

And breeding the best birds, if you're wanting to show them.

 

[Ridgerunner]

i read in a article that chickens breeding with their brothers/sisters, or parents could cause infertility in roosters,

Inbreeding can but that doesn't necessarily mean it immediately will. It can cause other problems too, lack of productivity or health issues for examples. But that is not a reason to panic. People have been keeping and breeding chickens for thousands of years. There are ways to manage this.

Every breed that has been developed and grand champions at chicken shows were developed by inbreeding. Your AC's were developed by inbreeding. To develop a breed you eliminate any genetic diversity that gives you traits you don't want but you want to keep any other genetic diversity they have to keep them fertile, healthy, and productive. It's a little bit tricky but certain techniques really help.

Line breeding is often used when developing a breed. This is where you often mate fathers to daughters or mothers to sons. The math is a bit tricky since you are talking gene pairs instead of individual genes but there is no difference in loss of genetic diversity whether you mate full siblings to each other or parents to offspring. The reason breeders use line breeding (parents to offspring) is that they have more control over which traits they are enhancing. If you mate full siblings you lose the same amount of genetic diversity than line breeding but you don't have as much control over which traits you are enhancing. I'll repeat myself in hopes of making it clearer. The reason breeders often use line breeding when developing the flock they want is not because they reduce the loss of genetic diversity but that they can better control what genetic diversity they lose.

Once they get the flock they want they change tactics. They want to keep the traits they want but reduce the loss of the other genetic diversity that can cause loss of fertility, productivity, or health.

One method often used by breeders is the spiral breeding method. There are other methods but this one is fairly common. They divide their flock into three flocks. Call them what you will, flock A, B, C or red, blue, green, or rocks, paper, scissors, whatever makes you happy. The hens always stay with their flocks. The roosters are rotated in a specific rotation. A rooster from A may always go to flock B, a rooster from B to flock C. Each breeding cycle they choose the best rooster for that sub-flock to mate with the best one or two or three hens from the appropriate flock. The are essentially breeding cousins so there is some inbreeding but they can keep that line of that breeding going for a long, long time before they see problems.

Most of the hatcheries we buy our chicks from use the pen breeding method. That's where they might keep 20 roosters in a pen with 200 hens. Their goal is to mass produce fertile eggs while keeping the general characteristics of the breed. Because of the randomness of the breeding they don't produce show quality chickens but that randomness of breeding maintains genetic diversity. The more roosters and hens you have the longer they can go, but some hatcheries have kept their flocks going for decades with pen breeding.

A very common method used on small farms is to keep replacements from your own flock. Then every few generations bring in a new rooster and start the process over. It's the method Dad used. The more hens and roosters you have the longer you can go, but Dad usually went through four or five roosters before he brought in a new rooster. In any of these methods you need to try to select your best birds to keep. Don't feel sorry for a bird because it is crippled or special needs. If you do then do not allow it to breed.

I don't know if any of these methods will suit you, some of that depends on your goals and maybe the quality of your starting stock. If you are happy with that quality you can skip line breeding and go straight to a method to maintain genetic diversity.

 

[bentenmanfann]

Inbreeding can but that doesn't necessarily mean it immediately will. It can cause other problems too, lack of productivity or health issues for examples. But that is not a reason to panic. People have been keeping and breeding chickens for thousands of years. There are ways to manage this.

Every breed that has been developed and grand champions at chicken shows were developed by inbreeding. Your AC's were developed by inbreeding. To develop a breed you eliminate any genetic diversity that gives you traits you don't want but you want to keep any other genetic diversity they have to keep them fertile, healthy, and productive. It's a little bit tricky but certain techniques really help.

Line breeding is often used when developing a breed. This is where you often mate fathers to daughters or mothers to sons. The math is a bit tricky since you are talking gene pairs instead of individual genes but there is no difference in loss of genetic diversity whether you mate full siblings to each other or parents to offspring. The reason breeders use line breeding (parents to offspring) is that they have more control over which traits they are enhancing. If you mate full siblings you lose the same amount of genetic diversity than line breeding but you don't have as much control over which traits you are enhancing. I'll repeat myself in hopes of making it clearer. The reason breeders often use line breeding when developing the flock they want is not because they reduce the loss of genetic diversity but that they can better control what genetic diversity they lose.

Once they get the flock they want they change tactics. They want to keep the traits they want but reduce the loss of the other genetic diversity that can cause loss of fertility, productivity, or health.

One method often used by breeders is the spiral breeding method. There are other methods but this one is fairly common. They divide their flock into three flocks. Call them what you will, flock A, B, C or red, blue, green, or rocks, paper, scissors, whatever makes you happy. The hens always stay with their flocks. The roosters are rotated in a specific rotation. A rooster from A may always go to flock B, a rooster from B to flock C. Each breeding cycle they choose the best rooster for that sub-flock to mate with the best one or two or three hens from the appropriate flock. The are essentially breeding cousins so there is some inbreeding but they can keep that line of that breeding going for a long, long time before they see problems.

Most of the hatcheries we buy our chicks from use the pen breeding method. That's where they might keep 20 roosters in a pen with 200 hens. Their goal is to mass produce fertile eggs while keeping the general characteristics of the breed. Because of the randomness of the breeding they don't produce show quality chickens but that randomness of breeding maintains genetic diversity. The more roosters and hens you have the longer they can go, but some hatcheries have kept their flocks going for decades with pen breeding.

A very common method used on small farms is to keep replacements from your own flock. Then every few generations bring in a new rooster and start the process over. It's the method Dad used. The more hens and roosters you have the longer you can go, but Dad usually went through four or five roosters before he brought in a new rooster. In any of these methods you need to try to select your best birds to keep. Don't feel sorry for a bird because it is crippled or special needs. If you do then do not allow it to breed.

I don't know if any of these methods will suit you, some of that depends on your goals and maybe the quality of your starting stock. If you are happy with that quality you can skip line breeding and go straight to a method to maintain genetic diversity.

Inbreeding can but that doesn't necessarily mean it immediately will. It can cause other problems too, lack of productivity or health issues for examples. But that is not a reason to panic. People have been keeping and breeding chickens for thousands of years. There are ways to manage this.

Every breed that has been developed and grand champions at chicken shows were developed by inbreeding. Your AC's were developed by inbreeding. To develop a breed you eliminate any genetic diversity that gives you traits you don't want but you want to keep any other genetic diversity they have to keep them fertile, healthy, and productive. It's a little bit tricky but certain techniques really help.

Line breeding is often used when developing a breed. This is where you often mate fathers to daughters or mothers to sons. The math is a bit tricky since you are talking gene pairs instead of individual genes but there is no difference in loss of genetic diversity whether you mate full siblings to each other or parents to offspring. The reason breeders use line breeding (parents to offspring) is that they have more control over which traits they are enhancing. If you mate full siblings you lose the same amount of genetic diversity than line breeding but you don't have as much control over which traits you are enhancing. I'll repeat myself in hopes of making it clearer. The reason breeders often use line breeding when developing the flock they want is not because they reduce the loss of genetic diversity but that they can better control what genetic diversity they lose.

Once they get the flock they want they change tactics. They want to keep the traits they want but reduce the loss of the other genetic diversity that can cause loss of fertility, productivity, or health.

One method often used by breeders is the spiral breeding method. There are other methods but this one is fairly common. They divide their flock into three flocks. Call them what you will, flock A, B, C or red, blue, green, or rocks, paper, scissors, whatever makes you happy. The hens always stay with their flocks. The roosters are rotated in a specific rotation. A rooster from A may always go to flock B, a rooster from B to flock C. Each breeding cycle they choose the best rooster for that sub-flock to mate with the best one or two or three hens from the appropriate flock. The are essentially breeding cousins so there is some inbreeding but they can keep that line of that breeding going for a long, long time before they see problems.

Most of the hatcheries we buy our chicks from use the pen breeding method. That's where they might keep 20 roosters in a pen with 200 hens. Their goal is to mass produce fertile eggs while keeping the general characteristics of the breed. Because of the randomness of the breeding they don't produce show quality chickens but that randomness of breeding maintains genetic diversity. The more roosters and hens you have the longer they can go, but some hatcheries have kept their flocks going for decades with pen breeding.

A very common method used on small farms is to keep replacements from your own flock. Then every few generations bring in a new rooster and start the process over. It's the method Dad used. The more hens and roosters you have the longer you can go, but Dad usually went through four or five roosters before he brought in a new rooster. In any of these methods you need to try to select your best birds to keep. Don't feel sorry for a bird because it is crippled or special needs. If you do then do not allow it to breed.

I don't know if any of these methods will suit you, some of that depends on your goals and maybe the quality of your starting stock. If you are happy with that quality you can skip line breeding and go straight to a method to maintain genetic diversity.

i like the spiral breeding idea but you said you could keep it going for a long time untill you see problems. once you do see the problems coming up would you just start over with a new flock or is their a way to keep the flock going after the problems apear? and i also like the idea that you said were you keep replacements for your flock as well thanks for the great ideas this helps me a lot!!!