OHio ~ Come on Buckeyes, let me know your out there!

[mlaff]

its depending on what your trying to do. I do my best to avoid breeding brother and sister, father to daughter, and son to mother; in most cases. -but- if you are working with a show line sometimes you do exactly what I just said not to.  I have used uncle to niece, or half siblings in breeding. that's where trios and quads come in handy.

with you getting into the dun genes and such, your going to have even more fun. dun + dun = 1/2 sport, 1/4 black, 1/4 chocolate.  (dun+dun sport) + black = chocolate.  I think that's how it works without drawing a square.  so in this case you would mix in black to keep the line working, in orpingtons especially watch and make sure to keep them English, if they are English. most people consider breeding English to an American breed as an improvement.

if you do decide to breed say "father to daughters" pick only the best hens that upset any flaws in the father. this is typically referred to as a cockerel line breeding, meaning the cockerels from this are usually of great quality. you would breed "mother to son(s)" as a pullet line, but keep the best pullets from the cockerel line to cross in for some diversity.  - now you start into a mess of lack of genetic diversity, and its a good idea to include an "uncle" or good quality unrelated cockerel/rooster in every couple generations for health reasons.

I hope all of this makes since, and there is a lot more to it than this.  I hope it answers your questions somewhat.

Wow. That is a lot of information to process. I think for me ill just try to get eggs from desperate places and make trio and quads that way. Lol sounds easier.

Now if I can only get DH off of his rant about them ill be ok. He didn't get any sleep because the incubator is in our room so now he wants them all gone. Urg. But my youngest lectured him about how he doesn't take care of them so he shouldn't worry about it. Lol I was giggling under my breath the whole time.

 

[minihorse927]

Thank you. Ill keep that in mind. Now I have been told you can inbreed chickens or do I need different lines? I've been told you can but I've also been told its better not to.

my way of changing up the lines is to "try" to find a roo from other bloodlines in whatever breed I am looking for and trade with someone. I've got a few people I do this with my calls. Every couple years we trade drakes so we reduce inbreeding. Once all of us have used one certain drake and have hens related he is either old and retired or of he has some years left we sell him on. If you can find the breed/color you need this is an inexpensive way of doing this!

Edited for stupid autocorrect.

 

[minihorse927]

My house guest

This is the poor sickly Cochin. It has cocci. It's been a trooper through the medicating and it actually ate some on it's own tonight. Excuse the wet feathers, I had to clean it up cause up the poo.

 

[mlaff]

my way of changing up the lines is to "try" to find a roo from other bloodlines in whatever breed I am looking for and trade with someone. I've got a few people I do this with my calls. Every couple years we trade drakes so we reduce inbreeding. Once all of us have used one certain drake and have hens related he is either old and retired or of he has some years left we sell him on. If you can find the breed/color you need this is an inexpensive way of doing this!

Edited for stupid autocorrect.

Awesome idea. Ill have to look into that.

 

[mlaff]

My house guest

This is the poor sickly Cochin. It has cocci. It's been a trooper through the medicating and it actually ate some on it's own tonight. Excuse the wet feathers, I had to clean it up cause up the poo.

Poor thing.

 

[OHfarmerswife]

I have an interest in Silver Ameraucanas. So far the ones I have located all come from the same line. How do you get diversity?

 

[Rnbwbrite1207]

All of my pullets are between 15-17 weeks old. This one was labeled as a red Sussex when I purchased her at TSC. But I think she may be a golden comet. Any guesses? any way, she is cackling up a storm but is the youngest of my pullets. Also the only one displaying the behavior of dipping her back submissively that I read about. Is she expressing that she is going to lay soon? NO ONE has layed any eggs yet! I am waiting as patiently as can be expected, since there is no way to rush them. I have a few questions. Some days many of the pullets will have red waddles, combs and faces but then the next day all will be pale, is this common at this age or is something wrong? These are my first chickens and I am terribly afraid that I am mistreating them somehow. Although they have plenty of crumbles and clean fresh water, plenty of space to move around and lots of fruit and veggie treats. Grit is readily available as well as crushed oyster shell (although no interest in this). In fact the only thing they do not receive is affection as none of them want anything to do with me. I know egg laying is a biological function that can began from 16-25 weeks of age but I am nervous that I may be doing something wrong to cause them duress. Any suggestions or answers are appreciated.

 

[minihorse927]

All of my pullets are between 15-17 weeks old. This one was labeled as a red Sussex when I purchased her at TSC. But I think she may be a golden comet. Any guesses? I would say golden comet or a red sex link. any way, she is cackling up a storm but is the youngest of my pullets. Also the only one displaying the behavior of dipping her back submissively that I read about. Is she expressing that she is going to lay soon? typically golden comets and rsl start to lay at 16-20 weeks. NO ONE has layed any eggs yet! I am waiting as patiently as can be expected, since there is no way to rush them. I have a few questions. Some days many of the pullets will have red waddles, combs and faces but then the next day all will be pale, is this common at this age or is something wrong? this is normal at this age. As long as they are running around and acting normally. These are my first chickens and I am terribly afraid that I am mistreating them somehow. Although they have plenty of crumbles and clean fresh water, plenty of space to move around and lots of fruit and veggie treats. Grit is readily available as well as crushed oyster shell (although no interest in this). In fact the only thing they do not receive is affection as none of them want anything to do with me. I know egg laying is a biological function that can began from 16-25 weeks of age but I am nervous that I may be doing something wrong to cause them duress. Any suggestions or answers are appreciated.

I answered your questions inside the quote. Sounds to me like these are spoiled chickens!

 

[loveourbirds]

I have an interest in Silver Ameraucanas. So far the ones I have located all come from the same line. How do you get diversity?

I don't have silver ameraucanas so im not 100% sure of their breeding. do you know what they used to breed with the araucanas to create them?

am I picturing them right, white head or gray head. darker gray on the back, salmon chest, going to white in the stomach?

 

[minihorse927]

silver ameracauna.