Silkie Chicken Inbreeding

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Silkie Keeper 7

Silkie Keeper 7

Chirping
5 Years
Joined
Aug 17, 2014
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Hello BYC, I've recently bought 4 silkie chickens but don't know whether they are siblings or not and was just wondering if I could breed them? Would it lead to deformed chicks or dead chicks?
 
Welcome to BYC! Glad you decided to join our flock. You can breed chicken siblings from 4 to 5 generations without having any inbreeding problems. But I would buy some new Silkie stock within the next couple of years to insure good vigor in your flock. Please feel free to ask any other questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck with your flock.
 
Inbreeding poulty is not like inbreeding dogs or cats. Often a rooster will mate his daughters and a hen with her sons- inbreeding closely for several generations may bring up problems. But in chickens you don't have to be concerned with that now. The chicks you bought together may not have even come from the same parents - people gather eggs from many chickens at a time to hatch and fill orders.
 
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Welcome to BYC
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Glad you joined the flock! There is quite an in-depth discussion on the topic here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/913452/breeding-related-chickens/0_30

I'd especially recommend you checking out the links Fred posted in post #2
 
Hello there and welcome to BYC!
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As said above, you can allow several generations of inter breeding before it can become a problem. Definitely check out the link that Sumi has provided. You will gain more knowledge about this there.

Great to have you aboard and welcome to our flock!
 
Welcome to BYC!
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We're glad to have you. It looks like you've received some excellent advice already.
 

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