mating

[alex]

Can related chicks that grow up mate?? And if they can, is there anything that can happen wrong?? Thank you
alex

 

[Fancy Feather Poultry]

Yes this is called inbreeding.

 

[rosyposyosy]

although chickens arent the brightest already - think of the poor things when you interbreed them! it is NOT a good idea. i am sure that they will still mate - but make sure they dont have any chicks.

 

[DuckLady]

I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong, but I believe line breeding is father to daughter or mother to son which is done to perfect a breed. Siblings breeding is different from a genetic standpoint.

 

[alex]

ok, but what if they do get chicks, what can happen to them??

 

[Rafter 7 Paint Horses]

Since I don't let siblings mate, (I remove roosters before breeding age). I can only tell you what I have heard about.

Severely crossed beaks, crooked legs, deformed legs, wobbly uncoordinated chicks, in general...unthrifty chicks.
Now, a very high percentage may be just fine, but you may find that they are not very disease resisitant.

You can just gather all the eggs to eat, and you don't have to worry about it. Or, trade your boys with a friend's boys for different bloodlines.

I hope this answers your question.

I do some line breeding: Son to Mother, Father to Daughter, and sometimes a Half-Brother to Half Sister (when these are grown, they never are mated with a relative)

Jean

 

[silkiechicken]

Yeah, brothers and sisters will mate. Just don't hatch any of the chicks. Line breeding can be done but I avoid that too. Chicks from brother and sister matings result in inbred birds that can have low hatch rates, and all the problems listed above. If you want to hatch birds, make sure the parents are unrelated.

If your girl ever gets broody, give them eggs from a different flock and don't let them hatch their own eggs.

 

[barg]

When I raised bugies, I bred show quality ones.
I got them from several different breeders but when I looked at their pedigree I discovered that one of my pairs, were also brother and sister.

They had alot of chicks and there was never a problem with them.
The fact is they were the best breeding pair I had.

I don't know how much transfers to chickens, but thats my experience.

I wouldnt, however, continue breeding the offspring to each other, I'm sure thats pushing your luck.

 

[Pine Grove]

the only way to set a trait is by inbreeding, thats how we got what we have today, I show chickens and if I have an outstanding bird I will breed it back to sons or daughters, never have got any ill effects from it..usualy the first thing to deteriorate is fertility and then vigor

 

[silkiechicken]

Breeding back is line breeding right so that can be done, but I still think brothers and sisters probably shouldn't be bred. It can be done but probably isn't the best.