HOW do I pick what breeds to breed/show.. Random ?'s hellpppp

[MakMurrayFarm]

Hey y'all..
I'm very conflicted right now and need fellow chicken lovers to help!! So I have alot of breeds that I love.. Of course
I do have several pens so that isn't an issue.. Here is where I'm conflicted I cant decide which breeds to focus on and then I have an idea but I don't know if its a good idea or not lol. So I accidentally recieved a cochin egg out of fertilized eggs I purchased. I told my self I would sell if it was a boy.. sure enough a boy. Well I've grown beyond attached as he is my cuddle bug that runs to me and flys on me for cuddles lol. So hes staying..
These are the breeds I currently have.. Modern Game Bantams, dU'ccles, Silkies, Serama, the cochin cockerel.
I for sure want to breed the Moderns, Silkies, deathlayers and Duccles. ( I think lol ) - all are from quality , SOP bred, show breeders (duccles are from the Vaughn lines).

Does anyone have a barnyard mix? I'm debating making a pen just for the seramas and cochin (adding a hen or two) and just use this as the pen I get my eating eggs from because the others will be sold, or go into my incubator. Potentially add random other smaller breeds that I like, but dont want to breed to the SOP and what not.

What're your thoughts? Please give me some advice!! The breeds I for sure wanna breed are they good breeds to breed lol?

 

[TwoChicksChix]

Any breed can be a good breed to go for depending on how the people around you like them.

When I started my breeding program, I looked for two things. One, do people around me have specific preferences for chicken breed? And two, do they prefer bantam or large fowl? I also looked into whether people want show quality or just nice looking birds.

I have pens for different breeds, B/B/S Ameraucana, Lavender Ameraucana, Wheaten/Blue Wheaten Ameraucana, Silkies, Mottled D’uccle, Mille Fleur D’uccle, Gold Neck D’uccle, Polish, Black Copper Marans etc. The important thing for me was, am I breeding for show or for people to get the birds they want?

Most of mine are breed to have really nice birds that are close to SOP but lay nicely and act sweet. However, my Silkies and my Polish are more of an ornamental type. They aren’t bred to the SOP and instead for the unique colors and looks I can get with them.

I’ve found moderns are difficult to find buyers sometimes, but that’s in my area. Maybe where you are people really love them. Bantam breeds work great for areas without a ton of land, so people are more likely to buy them.

As for the extra pen, I absolutely have that. It has my EE’s, blue leghorns, ISA brown, and a few others. It’s where I put my special ones just for me, because maybe they don’t meet breed standard or aren’t as pretty looking but I couldn’t let them go.

I say, go for it, but be aware that you want to start off much smaller than you think, at first I only barely made enough to cover feed. Plus you want to be aware of being NPIP and AI certified.

 

[MakMurrayFarm]

I definitely have already learned my lesson with the start small thing... I went in 25 feet deep a few months ago, lost 60% of the birds I got. Just not what I wanted to happen, but lesson learned. ugh! I appreciate all of your advice!!!
I definitely am pursuing npip / ai certification as soon as I can!!

Any breed can be a good breed to go for depending on how the people around you like them.

When I started my breeding program, I looked for two things. One, do people around me have specific preferences for chicken breed? And two, do they prefer bantam or large fowl? I also looked into whether people want show quality or just nice looking birds.

I have pens for different breeds, B/B/S Ameraucana, Lavender Ameraucana, Wheaten/Blue Wheaten Ameraucana, Silkies, Mottled D’uccle, Mille Fleur D’uccle, Gold Neck D’uccle, Polish, Black Copper Marans etc. The important thing for me was, am I breeding for show or for people to get the birds they want?

Most of mine are breed to have really nice birds that are close to SOP but lay nicely and act sweet. However, my Silkies and my Polish are more of an ornamental type. They aren’t bred to the SOP and instead for the unique colors and looks I can get with them.

I’ve found moderns are difficult to find buyers sometimes, but that’s in my area. Maybe where you are people really love them. Bantam breeds work great for areas without a ton of land, so people are more likely to buy them.

As for the extra pen, I absolutely have that. It has my EE’s, blue leghorns, ISA brown, and a few others. It’s where I put my special ones just for me, because maybe they don’t meet breed standard or aren’t as pretty looking but I couldn’t let them go.

I say, go for it, but be aware that you want to start off much smaller than you think, at first I only barely made enough to cover feed. Plus you want to be aware of being NPIP and AI certified.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I recommend sticking with one breed, maybe more varieties of that one breed. Reason I say this is you really need to understand a breed and the SOP to make any traction on maintaining quality of stock or even improving it.

As this is the Exhibition and SOP thread I assume you intend to work toward the Standard. There is too much to learn about each breed to jump in with multiple breeds at the start, as MakeMurryFarm says they breed for good birds not show. I'm sure the price is reflective of that.

One breed, maybe multiple varieties of it for diversity. Learn that breed, learn the ins and outs of the line of birds you obtained. That will take attention to detail and years of working with them. You'll need multiple pens just with the one breed. Keep it simple as there is much to do with one breed. Not at you but in general this forum has gone from the goal of being for people attempting to improve or maintain a breed to genetics of crosses and mutts of color with little regard to the Standards for a breed. Little rant there but it's such a shame people can't keep it simple for a real effort to work and improve stock that really need attention.

 

[Trevorusn]

Novice myself, but it would seem any Heritage breed listed on the Livestock Conservancy list would be worth the effort. Modern Game are listed as critical, though not sure if that includes the bantam. Cochins are either Recovery or Watch, they would also be a good contender for a breeding program.