I shall see what I can do BUT the lacing the have now is not adult. That they will get after first molt. This is one reason these birds can not be shown till then. One can not even cull for pattern or color till them either. Another reason that many to not breed because you must keep them around so long.
My first culling will be on body type and non pattern faults like white legs. I am in luck that way as I have very few to get rid of that have any serious faults like that right now. I only have a couple with a layer body instead of the duel purpose body. Also most of mine have the Plymouth Rock body type which is even harder to get from a hatchery. Next year I will be bringing in some unrelated breeder birds to clean up some points like hens leg color. Not to mention just bringing in new blood.
The probelm with most breeders in either a new breed or just new to breeding is getting the eye. The conformation differances are subtle and one needs to study and see many in order to see them. For some this is more natural for others it is a long process. Kennels blindness or in the case coop blindness is very common and not at all good. What that means is not truely looking at your breeding stock with a critical eye. Most let the heart get in the way which does no good for a breed. Our human nature of compassion always makes us feel for the underdogs or in this case faulted offspring. The main differance between a good breeder and a soso breeder is how they cull thier flocks. One will be more ruthless than the other. The one more ruthless will make faster progress also. It is just the nature of the beast when it comes to breeding. I have worked with many animals threw the years and breed many myself and it is always easy to tell what side of the fence a breeder is working from by his offspring.
My first culling will be on body type and non pattern faults like white legs. I am in luck that way as I have very few to get rid of that have any serious faults like that right now. I only have a couple with a layer body instead of the duel purpose body. Also most of mine have the Plymouth Rock body type which is even harder to get from a hatchery. Next year I will be bringing in some unrelated breeder birds to clean up some points like hens leg color. Not to mention just bringing in new blood.
The probelm with most breeders in either a new breed or just new to breeding is getting the eye. The conformation differances are subtle and one needs to study and see many in order to see them. For some this is more natural for others it is a long process. Kennels blindness or in the case coop blindness is very common and not at all good. What that means is not truely looking at your breeding stock with a critical eye. Most let the heart get in the way which does no good for a breed. Our human nature of compassion always makes us feel for the underdogs or in this case faulted offspring. The main differance between a good breeder and a soso breeder is how they cull thier flocks. One will be more ruthless than the other. The one more ruthless will make faster progress also. It is just the nature of the beast when it comes to breeding. I have worked with many animals threw the years and breed many myself and it is always easy to tell what side of the fence a breeder is working from by his offspring.
