Hatchery quality vs. Breeder quality

[The Yakima Kid]

OK. It's time for an heretical viewpoint. B^)

If you are looking for utility birds, hatchery stock may be a better choice. Many hatcheries maintain production lines which tend to diverge in appearance from the standard because breeding for appearance and performance can lead to very different results - a problem noted often as far back as early 20th C. practical poultry books and poultry science texts.

As an example, take the Barred Rock, a bird found in shows and still in use in commercial pastured laying operations. The standard Barred Rock tends to be significantly larger, later maturing, and lays fewer eggs - the standard calls for a hen above 6# in weight, while her utility dual purpose cousin will be smaller. A smaller hen is by definition a better forager because she needs less food to maintain her weight and produce eggs. A good utility Rock may lay above 240 eggs per year while her cousin bred to the standard will be lucky to lay 200 eggs in that same time period. A utility cockerel will reach a reasonable size before going staggy; but he won't be the size of a commercial broiler.

In other words - it all depends on what you expect of biddy. If biddy is to lay eggs, you are better off going with a utility strain; if biddy is to match the standard, then by all means select a show strain.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

Quote:
We simply differ on what comprises "quality stock." Raising birds for utility purposes is very different than raising birds for show. This is the case with many sorts of livestock. The QH I would choose to ride would likely not do well in a conformation class; but then, many of the top conformation horses have a problem with falling down and becoming paralyzed if given hard work due to a genetic disorder. The show ring often rewards characteristics that are not important if one is doing real agriculture and trying to make a profit selling eggs, meat, etc. Unfortunately, in some cases the show ring fails to screen out qualities that are counterproductive in a real world setting - as in the case of the horses that fall down and go boom and stay down.

 

[galanie]

Can't agree with you more. As I've said many times before, it depends on what you want. If you want birds that are what they're intended to be for that breed, breeder. If you just want a ton of eggs, get out the catalogs.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

Quote:
Hmmm? ..... breeds and genetics are integral to egg laying and behavior. Professor Dryden, who was generally considered the foremost poultry breeder in the world at the time of his death in the 1930s, spent his entire career breeding birds for egg laying and temperament. Many of the buildings on the campus of Oregon State University were paid for with the proceeds from the sale of breeding stock from Dryden lines. Things have not changed much in the world of agriculture as far as the importance of genetics in utility birds.

Perhaps we need to have a separate discussion area for Breeds, Genetics, and Utility? Just a thought.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I took this from Wikipedia. From this, I'm guessing Dr. Dryden was not necessarily breeding for show.

The California Gray is a breed of chicken developed in the U.S. state of California in the 1930s by James Dryden, a professor of poultry science at Oregon Agricultural College, now Oregon State University. The objective of the breed's creator was to produce a dual–purpose chicken that was suitable for meat production and laid large white eggs. By crossing Barred Plymouth Rocks and White Leghorns, a naturally autosexing breed with gray barred plumage (as adults) was produced. Largely because the breed was never recognized officially for exhibition by the American Poultry Association, California Grays are a rare breed in the 21st century. They were later used to develop the California White, a commercial hybrid.

The OP specifically asked for pictoral differences of breeder stock and hatchery stock. To me, this implies show quality stock of recognized breeds, not utilitarian breeds. I'm disappointed that the photos stopped coming. I was enjoying them.

Show quality chickens are not necessarily good production chickens. As has been mentioned, you need to know what you want and find a breeder breeding to those goals. A quick example from another thread on this forum. When a yellow legged hen lays well, the yellow disappears from her legs. Someone had a rock that had lost a lot of yellow from her legs because she was laying very well. The owner spoke to a certified judge about that and was told the loss of color would hurt the chicken in a show and suggested it be put in "production" class. I don't know what the judge meant by "production class" but from that, my takeaway is that good egg laying qualities can hurt a yellow legged hen as far as being "show quality".

Like Galanie said, you can't have it all. The Yakima Kid mentioned quarterhorses. They are great for certain utilitarian things and are nice to look at. But you should not expect a quarterhorse to win a distance race against a decent thoroughbred. You have to know what you want and choose for what you want. And sometimes those goals are mutually exclusive, like yellow legs and good egg laying.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Quote:
Her SLW looks similar to my girl. She is really round unlike some of the SLW I have seen. She was purchased from a breeder at the show. Only one pair for sale the entire day. I paid $20 for her. I think she's beautiful, but I've never wondered if she was SQ or PQ.

http://i948.photobucket.com/albums/ad326/aoxa/IMG_1446.jpg

http://i948.photobucket.com/albums/ad326/aoxa/IMG_1390.jpg

http://i948.photobucket.com/albums/ad326/aoxa/IMG_1494.jpg

http://i948.photobucket.com/albums/ad326/aoxa/IMG_1499.jpg

As for the BR you posted. I am so in love with that line. I have never seen a single one that looked like that in Canada. All have much shorter feathers. Oh I would give anything to have one that looked like THAT!

I'm not up on the Standard for Wyandottes, but she has very nice lacing. Beautiful girl!

 

[Ducks and Banny hens]

Quote:
The dirty cheats!

 

[Gresh]

Quote:
The dirty cheats!

LOL, yeah, I know. (Of course, I guess it's nothing to laugh-out-loud about.)

Almost all hatcheries in the USA are concerned primarily about one thing: quantity. Forget quality. The more birds they sell, the more money they make. It doesn't matter to them whether or not their Orloffs are actually just Ameracauna crosses, or whether or not their Ameracaunas are Easter Eggers, or whether or not their Rhode Island Reds are commercial hybrids. The almighty dollar is their idol, and quality is a threat to their graven image.

Hatcheries usually do not exist to preserve chickens, or even to necessarily promote chickens. They exist to make money.

There is at least one exception I know of. Sandhill Preservation Center is a small hatchery that works hard with what facilities it has to preserve purebred, rare poultry. Their birds are not perfect (no hatchery bird is), but they are usually purebred and thereby serve as fair representations of the breeds they sell.

However, that's the only exception I know of

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
The dirty cheats!

Ducks,
A heads up, most hatcheries will cross Barred Rocks, Marans and Dominique.
If it has a Rose comb they call it a Dominique, Single comb with clean Yellow legs it is called a Barred Rocks, Single comb with white legs and may or may not have feathered legs then it is called a Marans.

Chris

 

[aoxa]

Quote:
Her SLW looks similar to my girl. She is really round unlike some of the SLW I have seen. She was purchased from a breeder at the show. Only one pair for sale the entire day. I paid $20 for her. I think she's beautiful, but I've never wondered if she was SQ or PQ.

http://i948.photobucket.com/albums/ad326/aoxa/IMG_1446.jpg

http://i948.photobucket.com/albums/ad326/aoxa/IMG_1390.jpg

http://i948.photobucket.com/albums/ad326/aoxa/IMG_1494.jpg

http://i948.photobucket.com/albums/ad326/aoxa/IMG_1499.jpg

As for the BR you posted. I am so in love with that line. I have never seen a single one that looked like that in Canada. All have much shorter feathers. Oh I would give anything to have one that looked like THAT!

I'm not up on the Standard for Wyandottes, but she has very nice lacing. Beautiful girl!

Thank you