How Can I Make This Work...

[Jmurcks]

I need advice as I have no idea where to go from here!

Ok, I have three hens and one rooster. To keep it simple we'll call the hens A, B and C.
A and B of the hens are sisters and the C hen unrelated.
The rooster is supposed to be kin to the C hen but I don't know how closely.

I have them all together and have hatched about 30 chicks from them this season.
I have no idea which hens they are from.

How can I (or can I at all) keep this line going without bringing in new blood?

Am I eventually going to have to keep two seperate pens of chickens to keep breeding them?

Are all of these chicks of no use at this point - I have no idea what I am doing!

Thanks for any and all advice and help!!

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Line breeding or inbreeding in chickens is fine, unlike many other animals...HOWEVER, after time you will see things come up, like size issues, production, etc. And if any individuals have undesired traits, you will see these traits coming up more and more as birds carrying the gene are crossed back together to double up the gene in the offspring...

 

[Jmurcks]

Thanks for the reply!

I am trying to plan for more than just the upcoming year but more long term, too.

I mean, do I need to toss the roos and only keep the newly hatched hens to breed back to my current roo?

Thanks!

 

[Chris09]

THREE WAYS OF IN-BREEDING. The A.B.C. of Breeding Poultry for Exhibition, Egg-Production and Table Purposes

1919
" In-breeding," says Mr. Harry R. Lewis" commonly means
the mating of individuals related for one generation. In-and-in
breeding indicates those showing a longer period and closer degree
of relationship. Three ways of in-breeding are:--

n-breeding chart showing distribution of inherited 'characters. The black
denotes the blood lines of the male and the white those of the female. The
solid black lines show that a male has been chosen from the group from
which they start and the dotted lines a female
X-Male. O-Female.

1. Breeding sire and daughter which produces ¼
blood like the mother.
2. Breeding son and mother which produces progeny
with ¾ blood of the mother.
3. Breeding brother and sister which gives progeny with
blood lines from both sire and dam in equal proportions.
The latter (No. 3) is the mating referred to above as
undesirable. It is often adopted by breeders of both
Fancy stock and heavy egg-producers, but it must
not be over done. He must be sure of the vigour of
the parent stock, else this fault will be intensified in
the progeny.

This information on breeding and other information can be found here https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=343605

Chris

 

[NYREDS]

I'm forever reading here that line breeding, "after time", leads to various problems, especially productivity & fertility. I'd love to know how much time is involvrd. In my own experience I've bred a closed flock of Single Combed Rhode Island Red Bantams for nearly 25 years. The hens lay very well & my fertility & hatchability run around 95%. Oh and they continue to win regularly when shown. I keep wondering when my problems are going to start.

 

[Jmurcks]

Quote:
That is exactly what I was hoping to hear!

Can you tell me exactly how you have them set up? Do you only have one pen?

I have a single pen right now and I don't really want to have to deal with setting up a lot of pens for just one set of chickens.
I just don't want to risk bringing in any other chickens that might bring in undesirable traits as I really like what they are producing so far.

Thanks!

 

[Jmurcks]

And thanks so much Chris for the info and charts and such, it was a very interesting read!
Thanks!