Quality chicken questions

[333113]

...The trio competition in shows is where you'd see the birds from double mating systems. That's where two pullets and a cockerel are shown and the trio closest to standard for both sexes and trio that has all three looking alike wins.

Actually, I show trios quite frequently, and they are mostly siblings, all three. So, before you buy, it pays to ask.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Solid color birds wouldn't benefit from double mating. They don't have the difficulties associated with patterned birds. Spiral mating for genetic diversity is popular.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't breed for show, I don't have that passion. I play with simpler genetics. So breeders please correct me if I am wrong.

Often you use inbreeding to establish the quality of your flock. This usually involves inbreeding, mainly parent to offspring, to enhance specific traits. The goal is to eliminate genetic diversity in the traits you want to see in your birds so the quality is there. Even then you will hatch a lot that have flaws but enough birds have the right stuff. But once you reach your goals as far as quality, other breeding methods are used to maintain genetic diversity in the other traits. I see spiral breeding as more of a maintenance technique than a development technique.

 

[333113]

I don't breed for show, I don't have that passion. I play with simpler genetics. So breeders please correct me if I am wrong.

Often you use inbreeding to establish the quality of your flock. This usually involves inbreeding, mainly parent to offspring, to enhance specific traits. The goal is to eliminate genetic diversity in the traits you want to see in your birds so the quality is there. Even then you will hatch a lot that have flaws but enough birds have the right stuff. But once you reach your goals as far as quality, other breeding methods are used to maintain genetic diversity in the other traits. I see spiral breeding as more of a maintenance technique than a development technique.

There's a lot more to breeding a good quality chicken than selecting partners and culling for specific traits.
In chickens, as in cats, you can get offspring many months before the parents mature. But you really don't know what you are looking at until you are looking at a two year old. Size, height, weight, stance, health, quantity and quality of egg, and good flock behavior should play into your selection of mates as much as feather type and color.
We should all be aware that selecting for a certain traits can inadvertently select for other bad traits, whether or not they are genetically related traits. Many bad traits became characteristic of dog breeds due to single-minded selection of certain traits. In chickens, for example, it is too easy to mistake a big bird at eight months for a presumably big adult bird. This has resulted for some flocks in a gradually decreased adult size. Effectively, the decreased size was selected, if not intended.
When I breed, I am always on the lookout for individuals who excel at each of the traits I value, even if the individuals don't meet all the APA standards. I may remove those individuals from my show quality line but hold them on the side for potential re-incorporation into the breeding program. Two examples that leap to mind are health and egg quality/quantity. Neither is measured on the show floor, but both are intrinsic measures of a good quality bird.