Question about genetic defects

[ByHisHands]

Okay so this may be a stupid question but we are new at this so I have to ask. Is it safe for a roo to fertilize the eggs of his offspring?
Does it produce defects like with other animals and humans?

 

[ChickenWisperer]

From what I understand, inbreeding in chickens is MUCH safer than in other *animals

You just have to worry about unwanted traits being intensified.

But, I'd like input from more experienced members as well.....

 

[NewHopePoultry]

Inbreeding (whether it be birds, mice,etc) is not bad as long as its done properly.
Inbreeding brings out both the good and bad traits, and as long as the good traits outweigh the bad ones then its fine.
I use inbreeding with mice, as do several other breeders. Its a great way to increase the good traits in certain lines.
its the same way with chickens.
if you have several bad traits and inbreed, then you will end up with offspring with horrible traits, but if they have several good traits then you will end up with great birds.

 

[ByHisHands]

Thanks, it just popped into my head the other day. We were talking about letting our hens hatch some chicks and keeping some that we really like. Then I realized we only planned to keep 1 roo for them. I was going to Google it but I know this forum is as good as Google any day!

 

[ByHisHands]

Makes sense, we were wanting to breed the best hens in hopes of getting even better ones. Thanks for your help, I love being a part of this forum and
hopefully one day I will be knowledgeable enough to answer somebody else's questions