making a new breed of chicken. Any advice?

[Farm boy 14]

Making a new breed in the spring? So we are to assume that you have already spent quite some time breeding generations of birds after the initial cross to fix traits? Otherwise what you are making would be considered mutts and not a breed.

No, I meant that I would be trying to breed more of them to get a bigger flock, and then work from there. I probably should have worded( making a new breed in the spring) differently. sorry. how would I fix traits so they aren't just mutts.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Keep breeding, hatch a lot, cull hard selecting only birds that have the traits of your ultimate goals. It will still take a while.

 

[centrarchid]

@Farm boy 14,

I am nine years / nine generations into a project not unlike what you are contemplating. I will likely invest another 10 years before they breed true / predictable in terms of overall appearance and another 10 to polish the effort off and get them into hands of others that will perpetuate them as desire and get them recognized as a breed by some poultry organization. What makes it doable is I have done some research to figure out what a particular breed used to look and perform like. Then I brought together the existing breeds that I think have the genes needed to get me started. Then breeding / mixing got underway and I had to learn how the various traits are inherited and interact with each. It can be fun, but also involves some frustrations. One of my challenges involves not loosing too much genetic variation through inbreeding. That requires a combination of numbers when it comes to breeders and knowing who to keep as breeders even at the expense of increasing time required to meet the true breeding state.

 

[Happy Henny]

@Farm boy 14,

I am nine years / nine generations into a project not unlike what you are contemplating. I will likely invest another 10 years before they breed true / predictable in terms of overall appearance and another 10 to polish the effort off and get them into hands of others that will perpetuate them as desire and get them recognized as a breed by some poultry organization. What makes it doable is I have done some research to figure out what a particular breed used to look and perform like. Then I brought together the existing breeds that I think have the genes needed to get me started. Then breeding / mixing got underway and I had to learn how the various traits are inherited and interact with each. It can be fun, but also involves some frustrations. One of my challenges involves not loosing too much genetic variation through inbreeding. That requires a combination of numbers when it comes to breeders and knowing who to keep as breeders even at the expense of increasing time required to meet the true breeding state.

Wow