Famous Hatchery 'Pure Bred' Appearances

[Ladybird CA]

Also lavender is more of a light grey color and blue kind of varies, most of them I've seen end up being a darker grey and some even have black lacing.

And no question is stupid, you know stuff the rest of us don't

 

[OhZark Biddies]

I did not or will not call out hatcheries or puppy mills. I was merely talking about how the bottom line is more important to unethical people.....

Fair enough, but you mentioned people buying off others to get around regulations and hatcheries buying eggs from unregulated sources, so I thought maybe you were speaking to a specific known case in the past or something.

In general though there seems to be a theme where people make suggestive statements about hatcheries as if there have been documented cases of this or that, and I'm curious where it's coming from?

If these are known things, then I'd like to be more aware of them, so that I don't order from one of these in the future. Or if my local hatchery is doing something like this I want to be aware of it. That's the great thing about a community such as this, is that we can inform one another of the truth that might not make it to BBB websites, etc. But of course it is the internet so we have to be careful about misinformation as well.

As for me loving my local hatchery? I don't ...I don't hate it or love it ... I've done business with them twice over the span of 20+ years, seems okay... but maybe they're they're one of the nefarious ones you're speaking of for all I know? I'd just like to have some specifics before I charge in there next spring and put that nice lady in head lock because the internet has convinced me she's out to get me!

 

[OhZark Biddies]

I like you Ozark I do. I don’t like to *iss all over a thread. Perhaps I could of been clearer. Sorry if I offended you.

Thanks!


No offense taken, it's a discussion thread, I feel we should be free to discuss. I learn a lot from these threads.

There was someone the other day who got riled up because others were providing feedback on the thread they started, and it was kind of odd at first and then they mentioned that they started the thread to "show" others, but they were not looking for a discussion, so ultimately got mad and they deleted the thread.

I think this sites Article pages are the correct tool for something like that.

 

[CannedMonster]

First, let me remind you that all domestic chickens share a common ancestry and descend from Jungle Fowl. All the breeds of chickens have happened because a human somewhere liked a specific trait or traits and bred birds until they consistently had those traits and type. Eventually, people, in order to maintain their breeds of birds, began to write down these SOP's so others would know what traits should be chosen for and what stock should be used to continue the birds to maintain consistent type and performance. As time went on, more and more breeds of chickens happened, because more and more people sought to make various improvements on those breeds that were already there. They used specimens from pre-existing breeds to create new breeds, new colors, more winter hardiness, heat tolerance, etc. etc. This is still going on today, in every country on earth, just about. Today, there are so many different breeds of chickens you would think there just would not be room for any more, but there are still new humans that still want different things! I think it has been stated before that the focus of most hatcheries catering to the public is different from the average show breeder. They have different goals. The show breeder seeks to breed a line that will produce show winning specimens. The hatchery seeks to mass produce a bird of recognizable type and performance that will survive the rigors of mass production and the US mail and survive your possibly novice care once it arrives at its destination. They are less concerned with the intricacies of conformation and feathering but do want to send a bird that looks and acts like the breed it is supposed to be. There are a lot of hatcheries out there and they compete with each other in various ways. Most need to make the majority of their customers happy in order to stay in business. The show breeder needs to make judges at shows happy (judges who hopefully have studied the SOP for that breed of bird and knows what to look for). Sometimes I think the whole "purebred" terminology should just be thrown out since breeding "pure" will not over time, necessarily produce a typey specimen unless a certain amount of care is taken to ensure that breeding stock used is capable of passing on the traits that the breed is known for. I think this is what you are probably meaning. Do breeders do a better job of breeding to the SOP? I sure hope they do since that is their goal and they are needed to do that to maintain important breed characteristics. Do hatcheries totally ignore the SOP? I don't think so, because then they would be sending you an unrecognizable bird that you would not be happy with and would be out of business. But they are unlikely to focus on it in the way that a show breeder will. You have to remember that they will never even see most of the birds they produce as grown adults. Anyway, if humanity were swept from the earth and chickens survived, it is quite possible that they would eventually revert to being various kinds of jungle fowl again, since mother nature would be in charge of their SOP and selection for traits based on survival would again be the rule.

WELL SAID!

 

[MROO]

Self Blue/Lavender breeds true but with two blue birds breeding you can have blue, black, and splash chicks.

That makes a great deal of sense - like being homozygous (See, Dr. Hughlett, I DID pay attention in class!)

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

Anxious to see and read more! This thread has been FUNomenal!

 

[MROO]

White Chantecler
View attachment 1520997
View attachment 1520990
This bird belongs to Jim Fegan, and is so great in silhouette that he almost exactly lines up with an illustration of ideal type.
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REALLY neat visual! Thanks!

 

[MROO]

Plus "real life" has hit me pretty hard lately, so don't think I could work in the traveling now.

It stinks when Life gets in the way of the really important stuff ... like our chickens ... oh, and sometimes our kids, too?

 

[MROO]

Also lavender is more of a light grey color and blue kind of varies, most of them I've seen end up being a darker grey and some even have black lacing.

And no question is stupid, you know stuff the rest of us don't

You are absolutely right. In my book, "dumb question" is a rhetorical reference. I genuinely believe that the only truly "dumb" question is the one you are too embarrassed to ask, so you end up not knowing ... and results in someone or something getting hurt or missed out on.

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

A question to ponder while waiting for @BlackHackle next post....

Do birds with SOP produce superior eggs??????? Is there an SOP for eggs from SOP hens????