Size of chicks

Hi, I have been breeding "down" bantam phoenix for the last 10 years. I breed the roosters with really good color and type to my smallest hens. For me I have gotten the best results using the hens to achieve size.. So I would pick my biggest hens to use for breeding if I wanted to bring them up..

 

I have read in old books on breeding, I mean from 1930's back, that the hen size is most important. I do know though from my very limited experience that rooster size does at least have an effect. The old timers said the chick will never be bigger than the hen it came from but it is possible that the chick can still be bigger.

I've read the opposite was true, that the roo needed the size, but I trust the old timers to know the most.

 

I agree with Tanders - just from my experience in livestock husbandry in general, it is most common for the female to bear a majority of the influence on final size. This doesn't mean that the father has no influence - indeed he contributes 50% of all genetic potential, but the female will bear a greater responsibility due to the influence of the size and function of her reproductive organs on the embryo - with chickens, this includes the egg.

 

My general experience with livestock is that they will tend to split the difference. Height doesn't seem to be passed on with any sort of strict rules. Breed large to small and you can get smaller than the small, the same size as the small, mid size in between, large as the large, and bigger than the large. But the majority will be in between.

I suggest that you breed your large rooster and when you cull the hatch, keep the pullets that grow the biggest (if they are otherwise worth keeping).

Then breed the big pullets to a larger rooster, and keep the largest chicks. Keep going that way and you will end up with a flock of birds that are bigger than what you've got now.