I am very chicken breeding ignorant with question----

[chooniecat]

my son and I would like to raise some chicks of our own breeding and I wondered if I buy a male chick along with possibly a sister chick would their offspring have more of a likelihood for defects because of brother/sister thing? I want to know before I go further with this plan. thanks:/

 

[Katy]

If you're going to get these chicks from the feed store, even if they're in the same bin the odds are they aren't very closely related.

 

[a2ms4chickens]

From what I have been told, you don't want to breed brother & sister because they will both carry defects that will be passed to their offspring.

I don't have a lot of knowledge in this area, so I will be following this post for more information from more knowledgable people.

 

[Dustin Biery]

The only way they will pass defects is if they carry defects. It is a common practice in poultry to breed back that close, especially when working on a desireable trait. As Katy said, most chicks that you find in the bins at the feed store aren't necessarily going to be that closely related, however they could be. It is not uncommon for breeders to breed a daughter back to her sire or son back to the dam. Its line breeding and takes place quite often in the poultry world.

 

[chooniecat]

more than likely the chicks will come from meyer hatchery and my first thought was, of course, they should not be bred but where else will I get an unrelated male chick? just occured to me that many on here will have a male to pass on but......... I have only gotten my chicks from meyer (total of 17 so far) and will learn as I go, I imagin. basicaly what my son and I wanted to try was to breed some layers of our own and eat any of the boys early on as our experience with roosters has not been always pleasant. so-now I have to investigate certain roos of layer breeding(you know what i mean) .

 

[Dustin Biery]

What kind of chicks did you get from Meyer?

 

[chooniecat]

most recently(yesterday) 11 meat babies and 6 months ago aracaunas,new hampshire red,and buff orp.. had barred plymoth rock,black orps in past. we are going to get more layers(totally different breeds from the past so that will be fun) soon so will just get different breed cockerel from the girls I guess. even though you've suggested it shouldn't be a problem with inbreeding it still worries me.

 

[jossanne]

Think of the hundreds of chicks that hatch of each breed every week at a large hatchery. All the chicks, no matter what parents they come from, are tossed into bins to be sexed and boxed. One mama hen can lay 7 eggs a week at most, so the possibility of your getting too many chicks from one mama hen out of a bin full of chicks isn't all that great. I think... Never been to a large hatchery, but this is how it seems to me that it would be.

So I wouldn't think it would be a problem breeding chickens from a feed store together. They could be related, but odds are that they're not.

And, I think that if you're buying hatchery birds then you must not care TOO much about having birds that don't quite meet the standards. All of my beautiful chickens are from hatcheries, and I know I want them to look like the breeds that I'm buying, but if I wanted show birds I'd go pick them out specifically from a reputable breeder.

So with that being said, I really don't think it matters letting your birds mix and mingle freely. It's probably what the people who are selling eggs to the hatchery are doing, anyway.

 

[mstricer]

Meyers is a nice hatchery I live down the road from them and I'm able to pick them up. I got all of my chicks (except orps. was before I knew how about Meyer) Order a catalog it shows chickens better.

 

[chooniecat]

So I took the plunge and ordered 6 more babies thursday. did NOT get a black jersey giant but may do so in the spring as my son and I build more enclossures. ordered salmon faverolles male, sf female,1 female each speckled sussex,golden laced wyandotte,golden campine,and delaware. no real reason for choices other than want to experience each and they're ALL beautiful. its a 2 hour trip for me but mom pays for my gas and we have a blast going up. will pick up in 2 weeks+. I ordered a catalog a few weeks ago so I could get layers when I ordered my meaties but catalog didn't show up so ordered meaties anyhow and the day I picked them up got a catalog and by the time I got home 2 catalogs(?) had shown up in mail and my son was going crazy deciding what we should get. so my point IS I am making another trip up and wish meyer would take pity and GIVE me extras for my effort(sort of teasing)