Spiral/Clan Breeding

[Steven673]

I plan on clan breeding using 3 clans of chickens and I am wondering how long this can go on without adding a new clan for new genetics. I keep reading conflicting statements. One site says it can continue indefinitely without needing outside genetics. Another site said no more than 5 years and another said a family successfully kept a flock of Rhode island reds for 90 years. Does anyone know more about this and have any real numbers? Thanks.

 

[WillGriffin03]

1-2 generations tops

 

[br0nc0]

Well I think a lot depends on the genetics that you have when you start. If the chicken are genetically very diverse you can rotate longer. Also, "defective" chicken are not directly caused by inbreeding. They are caused by the"defective" genes that stack up while you breed close relatives. So in theory, if you had perfectly healthy stock, with flawless genetics you could go on for a very long time. That's not very common though, so some new blood is always welcome. This also goes for resistance to ilnesses. narrow genetic pool might be more immune to some diseases and not immune to others, so there's a chance that if something goes wrong, it will go terribly wrong.
The thing is, I don't think you need a whole new group of chickens for fresh genetics. I guess you could just buy 1 new rooster and then just continue rotation of roosters.
I don't have much experience with breeding chicken like that, but I have bred a very closed group of pigeons for over 10 years now, and apart for some bad coloring there haven't been much issues.

 

[Steven673]

Thanks. That's what I mean by "adding a clan". I would just slide a rooster in the rotation. Thanks for the info.