Initial Clan mating

[Pcmandooo]

The cockerels I have now are the product of one backcross but not any more.

Do you have any pictures of the line that you are working on?

 

[Amer]

So one of the three cockerels I needed died so I am thinking of using the original outcross cock (the grandfather) as the start of one line

This is cockerel 1

Cockerel 2

Unfortunately, they don’t look their best because they kept trying to fight me the whole time, or fight other chickens.
My females are the show birds but I need to clean them up before they would look presentable for pictures.
But here is Queeny, an older hen

 

[Amer]

If you want to know more, look at my My Coop

 

[Mossy Dell]

I'm planning for clan mating / clan breeding.

My practice of clan mating my American game show and performance heritage breed has been somewhat different because I started with mature breeding stock, not a bunch of chicks from a hatchery.

Here's my experience with this highly flexible method. This shows how someone can make six lines from one trio without severe inbreeding. Top performance breeders have recommended mating from a trio along these lines. Instead of the usual advice to breed parents to offspring.

Clan mating of course exists to foster less inbred lines. With mature stock you can know from the start the relationships in related but separate foundational lines. Certainly if you single mate, but it works roughly the same with flock matings.

Year One:
Cock 1 x
Hen 1-RED Line or Clan
Hen 2-BLUE Line or Clan

Try to hatch at least two settings from each hen. Keep several nice stags and pullets from each hen

Year Two:
BLUE Stag 1a x
RED Hen 1. Pullets stay in Red Line for least inbreeding. Could start a new line with one of the pullets.

RED Stag 1a x
BLUE Hen 1. Pullets stay in Blue clan for least inbreeding, or start new line with one of the pullets.

BLUE Stag 1b x
RED Pullet 1. A half brother-sister mating since both were sired by Cock 1. Could form new line, otherwise offspring are RED line.

RED Stag 1b x
BLUE Pullet 1. A half brother-sister mating since both were sired by Cock 1.

Year Three:
Cock 1 x granddaughters:
RED Pullet(s) 2 from Blue Stag 1a x Red Hen 1. This forms WHITE line.

BLUE Pullets(s) 2 from Red Stag 1 x Red Hen 1. This forms ORANGE line.

BLUE stag 2a (from RED Stag 1a x BLUE Hen) x grandmother:
RED Hen 1. This forms YELLOW line or clan.

RED stag 2a (from BLUE Stag 1a x RED Hen) x grandmother:
BLUE Hen 1. This forms PURPLE line or clan.

So after three years, you have Red, White, Blue, Orange, Yellow, and Purple lines or clans. You don’t have to make that many lines. But to go a long time without new blood you need at least 4 lines.

The common idea for spiral or clan breeding is that every year a male from Red goes to White, and a male from White goes to Blue, etc., until you get to Purple, and that male goes around and back to Red.

I chose a clan to be represented by a color, but others use a letter, or a number. Hens don’t have to be separated physically by clan until mating time. Or if you have the pens and space, each family of females can have its own pen or pens.

The initial inbreeding in all the matings shown here is 12.5%, moderate. The usual advice for mating a trio after the first year involves 25% inbreeding, considered intense.

Finding duds and producers means all breeding plans like this one will and should change. You might need or want to bring in one or two males from your brood source in the first five years. But the gist of my clan approach I hope is clear.

II.​

In practice, it has taken me five years to make five lines. And I am still mostly breeding within each line. For one thing, I didn’t have the plan above.

Much advice on spiral or clan mating assumes someone has a bunch of fowl from a hatchery and just divides them into three or four flocks and flock mates.

But clan mating actually sprang from ancient people to avoid inbreeding themselves. The celtic people showed it in their tartans. The colored lines helped people track ancestry. And clan mating has been combined with single mating even by egg farmers to ramp up genetic progress. It is flexible.

What it has done for me is help me create more lines and emphasize hens more. I’d tended to emphasize rams and bulls, in livestock breeding, and of course roosters in fowl breeding. But you can get in a genetic jam fast by breeding mostly to one great male. And think always of male lines instead of female—lines based on hens balance the fact that males do have much more impact on a flock than hens because generally they are bred to many hens in a season.

Each mating still must be proved—golden hens and ace brood cocks must be found. Clan breeding with performance animals encourages this. At least for me. It helps me hold lines and relationships in my head. Or see them at a glance: I have all fowl banded on their right leg with their clan color. On the left, I have their sire's clan color. They are wing banded too, usually with colored Jiffy bands corresponding to their clans.