Interbreeding in Chickens

[aroostercalledBrownie]

Hi all! is interbreeding a problem in chickens? I have a mama hen though she doesn't know it, she isn't naturally broody, and we put three of her eggs in an incubator. Two of the eggs hatched and one is certainly a roo, he is 6 months now. He is mating with his mother and we are keeping them away from each other now. Is this normal behavior and should we keep them apart?

 

[Wezdin]

It is normal behavior, it's okay to have them together, I wouldn't hatch any of her eggs though.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Why do you think you might want to keep them apart? It's a lot easier to answer that question if I know what your actual concern is.

That behavior is totally normal and natural. That's a common technique breeders use when developing a show chicken or a new breed. It's called line breeding. If you are not hatching the eggs that doesn't matter.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Inbreeding in chickens is fine, you just want to add new blood after the 4th generations, you might run into some problems then.
I'm currently using line breeding with the occasional new blood added to keep genetics more strong.

 

[aroostercalledBrownie]

Why do you think you might want to keep them apart? It's a lot easier to answer that question if I know what your actual concern is.

That behavior is totally normal and natural. That's a common technique breeders use when developing a show chicken or a new breed. It's called line breeding. If you are not hatching the eggs that doesn't matter.

Thank you!

 

[aroostercalledBrownie]

Inbreeding in chickens is fine, you just want to add new blood after the 4th generations, you might run into some problems then.
I'm currently using line breeding with the occasional new blood added to keep genetics more strong.

Thank you very much!

 

[MysteryChicken]

Thank you very much!

You're welcome.