Method for keeping track of Flock and Breeding History

[Year of the Rooster]

What sort of method do you use to keep track of your flock history and how do you keep track of breeding records? Do you use leg bands? If so how do you fit them into your program?

Just curious is all

It's one of those things that's been bugging my mind lately haha

 

[centrarchid]

I am using a combination of techniques. Eggs hatch in pedigree baskets, chicks marked with colored permanent markers at hatch marks readible through five weeks, three week-olds are marked with numbered wing bands (readible for life), and at about 5 months birds not culled marked with leg bands to enable rapid ID to family from a distance.

 

[Year of the Rooster]

Thanks for commenting!

So then what kind of ID is on the tags and how does it allow you to trace the history of the bird? I understand that some breeders like to keep this kind of info personal, so if you don't want to give out any more then I wouldn't be offended.

 

[centrarchid]

Quote:
Nothing about marking is worthy of secrecy. Keep a ledger. As applied record band numbers as well as ID of dam (mother) and sire (father). Numbers can go up to 1,000 and four colors at least can be had with wing bands so 4,000 birds or more could be done at one time. Numbers can be recycled as birds pass away. I now enter all information in Microsoft Excell spread sheets but keep hard copies of same in ledger. Excell enables rapid searching of an individual to find parents as well as any determinations such as weight at age or other characteristics like comb quality, coloration, feather quality etc. You can keep each generation on a separate data sheet. My leg bands are used to keep track of matrilineage (mothers geneology more important in my breeding program).

 

[Year of the Rooster]

Quote:
Nothing about marking is worthy of secrecy. Keep a ledger. As applied record band numbers as well as ID of dam (mother) and sire (father). Numbers can go up to 1,000 and four colors at least can be had with wing bands so 4,000 birds or more could be done at one time. Numbers can be recycled as birds pass away. I now enter all information in Microsoft Excell spread sheets but keep hard copies of same in ledger. Excell enables rapid searching of an individual to find parents as well as any determinations such as weight at age or other characteristics like comb quality, coloration, feather quality etc. You can keep each generation on a separate data sheet. My leg bands are used to keep track of matrilineage (mothers geneology more important in my breeding program).

Great

this really helped a lot. Could you elaborate more on the matrilineage, please? Also, one thing that has stuck in my mind is how to identify the lineage of a chick if there were multiple hens with one rooster in the same pen. Would that be patrilineage then?

 

[centrarchid]

Mating system you describe is a form of polygamy (multiple mates) known as polygyny (male mating with multiple females). Often easiest for those with housing resources limited (pretty much everybody). Closest records in that case based on male (patrilineage) which is how we used to track our polygyny mated games. We would have hen(s) numbering from 1 to 6 in with each brood cock. Even though chicks hen reared, hens cuckholded each others nest making knowledge of actual mother not known with confidence. Nonetheless, we had managed some control over that by having hens being full sisters to each other. I am now cheating by having rooster cover a hen once every three days and keeping hens penned separately. That requires work. Wanting to have hens tie-corded like done with game roosters and allow rooster to range among the ladies to ensure all are covered. Hens allowed only to lay in their own nest, making possible / practical the breeding hens of varied genetic backgrounds to same rooster at same time.

The matrilineage I track has known with certainty the mother, grandmother, greatmother, etc. for every individual. Males ancestors also known but much greater effort made to ensure no matrilineages go extinct. I select males extremely hard with only one from each matrilineage being allowed to breed. matrilineages are each repressented by several hens at any given time.

What are you trying to select for? What breed? How many breeders can you support?

 

[Year of the Rooster]

Well funny you should ask

I'm 18, and lately I've gotten into a project of what I would want a breeding barn to look like (# of pens, storage rooms, organization, etc) and how I would keep track of the birds. I would really like to breed Sebrights when I have a place of my own someday. Maybe even another breed if I can afford it. This is all hypothetical, but I would like to get it figured out early so that I am prepared

I've shown chickens in 4h for several years and have done well in showmanship. They have definitely made a positive influence and I really enjoy having them. Now I feel a little embarassed for admitting this lol.

 

[centrarchid]

You are thinking things through. Will enable selection systems promoting genetic improvement better than linebreeding and inbreeding schemes alone can do. Genetic variation in sebright very limited as I understand with lots of undesireable alleles essentially fixed in population. Would be fun to restore genetic variation by crossing with red jungle fowl, then select to sebright appearance but keep some of the desirable jungle fowl alleles promoting vitality and fertility.

 

[Backwoods Bntms]

Do a search for zooeasy. You can down load a free trial that will keep track of 10 birds to see if it is something you would use.

 

[Year of the Rooster]

As you've showed me though, I still have a lot to learn. Thank you very much, too! This was a big help for me and I really appreciate it

red4x4, Thanks! I'll look it up