Signs of "Line Breeding"?

[Cuban Longtails]

Line breeding is great if you go father to daughter or mother to son. However, a lot of folk are breeding sister to brother (ie. breeding adults from the same hatch) and this tends to bring out a lot of the recessive traits and defects. Know the breeder, ask lots and lots of questions especially about the brood stock. There are a lot of scam artists out there just looking to make a quick buck off of you, so you have to be careful.

 

[chickenbuddy]

L&Schickens :

I totally intend to cull. I believe in that. I like to show birds also, and if Marans are accepted into the APA standard, I can't have birds with webbed toes. I will also cross breed some of the Wheatons with the normal toed BCs to help mix up the line a little.
Even though egg color is most important to me, genetic defects are not what I want.

sorry to go off subject, but I have been meaning to ask this question, Can you cross breed a chicken to get or get rid of a required trait and then breed back to get a "pure" breed?​

 

[Krys109uk]

I was just looking for advice ... here is a portion of the reply...

"Sorry you got some with curled toes. We have seen that occasionally. It may be genetic, it can be environmental."

Sound as if the vendor might have misunderstood. Curly toes can be from a few causes......but as you say, they are not curled toes they are fused. I cannot say for certain but there is a good enough chance that the issue is genetic. Difficult for you to make it quite plain about the problem to the vendor, when they talk of a different issue. I gather marans eggs are rather expensive too.​

 

[kaya's farm]

i am not against line breeding or whatever you want to call it however the goal of an animal that follows a standard of appearence is diffrent than an animal that stands to live a long healthy life.

 

[Krys109uk]

i am not against line breeding or whatever you want to call it however the goal of an animal that follows a standard of appearence is diffrent than an animal that stands to live a long healthy life.

Ideally both would be aimed for, I'd have thought.​

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Can you cross breed a chicken to get or get rid of a required trait and then breed back to get a "pure" breed?

Yes, breeders do that regularly. That is how new colours are brought into a breed. Some traits are easier to work with than others.

There are a number of things that can be genetic, nutritional, incubation conditions, hatching conditions, etc. But if something is cropping up frequently and all over the place, then it is likely genetic. If one person is having frequent problems, but others with the same line of birds are not experiencing them, then it is probably something in that person's setup: feed, environment, etc. But when different people, different feed, different incubators, climates, etc...it is the genes.​

 

[wclawrence]

inbreeding works the same whether you breed to offspring or siblings. It simply divides the options. ALL genes will express more when you inbreed.

 

[pips&peeps]

I personally won't recommend anyone to that seller again as I have seen too many people have the fused toe problem now.

The chicks I ordered for my friend were at least a week or two old and you could see it. I even called and told him about the problem.

So, it is genetic and he is still selling birds and eggs for a premium price. I have no idea whether or not he is addressing the issue privately, but it would seem that since he avoided the subject or played dumb with the OP, it isn't.

I think the issue here is greed.

 

[L&Schickens]

I agree with you Pips.. I figured that with the price I paid for these eggs the chicks would be perfect, not junkers.

So, I sepnt a fortune on eggs and will have hens that lay a very nice "Eating" egg instead. I am very frustrated with the entire thing.

 

[MikeJanet]

Even with my limited experience, I too believe greed is at the core of the issue. Buyers are almost as responsible as sellers as sellers wouldn't get thier price if buyers weren't willing to pay it. I've been careful in my purchasing of eggs - attempting to buy from reputable sellers who focus on the health and correctness of the chick to be hatched, this my first true disapointment in health of the chick and by the response of my seller when notified. It leads me to believe sellers ethics are being swayed by an opportunity to make $$ while demand is high, and overlooking issues such as fused toes because of it - maybe it's sign of our current economy. All and all I am fortunate / appreciative that my chicks are otherwise healthy.