I agree that not every bird should be bred, but I also don't agree that everyone should breed strictly toward the SOP, nor that those that don't (breed toward the SOP) shouldn't sell their birds.
I have Indian runners, and some of mine are SO upright that they have leg problems. I mixed a few last year with some "back-yard" runners (much less upright), and all their offspring were much stronger and more stable on their legs, though not quite as upright. A very good trade-off in my opinion, but they'll never win at any shows.
And thank God that there were some "back-yard breeders" of German Shepherd dogs, or all we would have left are those poor show-dogs that have their hips so close to the ground that their backs look like kiddie slides at a play-ground. Or bull dogs that can't run because they can't breath, or dalmations that go deaf, or many of the other genetic defects and problems caused by our vein attempts to create the "perfet dog".
Now, before you get all agitated, I know (OP) that you said to breed for ALL qualities, including health and vigor. But sometimes, in order to do that we need to bring in some new blood, and often that is found on the outside: some little farm or back-yard breeder.
I sell my birds and my eggs, so I understand your frustration at competing with some of the folks that sell "fertile hatching eggs" from the 3 runner ducks they bought at the feed-store last year. There was a local lady last year that sold ducklings for $1 each just because she thought they were "fun to hatch". There was another guy 2 years ago that flooded our local market with so many ducklings that he ended up having to give them away. Neither one still hatches or sells ducklings, but I'm sure that this spring someone else will pop up. Someone always does. But I will still be here too, giving tours to the families with little kids, answering endless questions from 4-H kids and first-time duck owners, and playing around with my hobby of duck color genetics.............
Oh, anyway, it's late and now I'm rambling. Just my 2 cent's worth.
The small backyard mixed bird breeder doesnt bother AT ALL. It is when the same person takes said mixes and markets them as Breed X, Y or Z. That is what bothers me. Dont buy a mixed flock and then sell hatching eggs or hatchlings as anything but a mix. it would be like someone taking a mutt dog who has 1/8th german shepherd in them, breeding to another mutt from a GS mother/Lab dad and calling the pups GS pure bred.
The backyard breeder who wants to play with mixing their birds into what ever cross breed doesnt bother me, just again DONT try and market them as a pure bred animal.
Many hatcheries are guilty of this. Surprised they're not shut down for fraud. They charge the same price whether the bird is SQ or not. I have a few personal rescues that I have never bred but can't part with so they are pets. As for my breeders, I don't have a lot of birds at all, just a select few quality specimens. Quality, not quantity.
UUmm no, Holderreads is one of the few if not only who labels hatchlings BQ, SQ. You wont find Metzers or any of the other super large hatcheries selling anything labeled as such. They sell ............Duck breed X, and Chicken Breed A with no additional labels.
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CULLING............does not ever mean the birds are put down......it means removing from the breeding program. Selling a bird male or female (we sell both as culls) as pets is not a bad thing. Culling simply means removable from a breeding program. Our son culled his BC Marans flock to 1 rooster 3 hens the others were sold as pets/egg layers (hens) the rooster were processed.
No one ever said backyard breeding of mixed flocks was bad.................but dont list them as pure bred anything and exspect a ton of money for them as some have done and continue to do. The same goes for birds who are genetic walking disasters, dont breed two birds with hip, leg, head, wing, bill issues and think it is OK.
We have a Sebbie gander who is going to be going to the freezer, he isnt worth breeding, ganders are a dime a dozen for mixed flocks, he does however have a great depth of body, so butchering it will be. We have Toulouse who have been and will be processed as well for the same reasons or because that was the planned purpose for them since we hatched them in the spring.
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Mixing breeds for personal use.........DO IT, but dont sell them as anything else but mixed breeds. DO It if it makes you smile, doesnt bother me one bit. Dont do it and then sell the off spring as pure anything.
We have a customer who recently bought what she was told was a Sebastopol "who just needs to grow more before the feathers will appear" and paid hundreds based on this persons "word" They have a white bird, with smooth feathers all over who appears to be at least a year if not 2. This is the type of breeding/selling that I am referring to.
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The SOP isnt an end all be all.......but it is a STARTING place.............but again vigor, fertility, strong healthy stock is also something that needs to be in a breeding program.
Call ducks have fertility issues......so do some lines of Sebastopols, some lines have ganders with bad performance. Sometimes we have to use scissors to give "hair cuts" to their back sides for breeding season. Those fluffy beautiful feathers we crave create breeding nightmares at times. LoL We trimmed a gander and 2 geese yesterday. the feathers grow back again, but to give good access for breeding they need some trimming up.
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anyone who wants to imply those who pay for a membership arent held to same rules are just being pety and trying to start a fight. end of discussion on that one.
we have a paid membership because if we want to link to our Farms website we have to have this membership. thats the RULE, so we follow it and pay yearly for that feature as well the other benefits that come with it.
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Do we mix breed any of our birds? YOU BETCHA....our Easter Egger flock is EE and AM mixed together. You wont catch us listing them as ANYTHING but EE's (unlike many hatcheries and some farms too). Why do we mix the AM into the EE? For the blue egg gene, but our EE flock is a multi colored feather flock who lay mainly blue eggs. Most of the new off spring are larger than previous birds, which was another goal for the flock. So NO mixing breeds isnt bad, but DONT market them as anything other than a mix.
