Sumatra Thread!

[championsumatra]

I think it is important to add in new blood. But the disadvantage to adding in new blood all the time is you can be breeding in a new problem like white tipped wings. Line breeding is the best way but there is a point before it becomes Inbreeding. Inbreeding can lead to a lot of health problems with the birds as well hatch rate problems. So it is best to make sure you know which bird came from which parent. I hope this helps.

 

[NYREDS]

I don't believe in adding new blood......especially every year or so. It takes years to know what you really have in your birds and if you keep changing the makeup, you will never know what you have. I have lines of birds that have had no new blood for over 30 years.

Walt

There is no better way to trash a breeding program than to frequently add "New Blood". I bred a line of Rhode Island Red Bantams for 25 years w/o any additions. Started the strain with 2 pairs that came from a long term, stable blood line so I don't know how long it had been in total that no new blood was added-probably 50 years or more. As long as you keep good records & follow line-breeding principles you may never need to breed outside your strain.

 

[fowlman01]

There is no better way to trash a breeding program than to frequently add "New Blood". I bred a line of Rhode Island Red Bantams for 25 years w/o any additions. Started the strain with 2 pairs that came from a long term, stable blood line so I don't know how long it had been in total that no new blood was added-probably 50 years or more. As long as you keep good records & follow line-breeding principles you may never need to breed outside your strain.

This is how it is done by real breeders folks. All this genetic diversity and the other crazy stuff you read online is from people that simply do not know what they are doing...and it shows in their birds. People can do it anyway they like, but NYREDS and I have a proven track record that speaks for itself. Old time breeders never added new blood, unless they had to after backing themselves into a corner. You never heard the words "genetic diversity" when the very best poultry breeders were around. Genetic diversity is an online term used by online "breeders".

Walt

 

[Lacy Blues]

Walt, maybe it would be time intensive, I don't know. I'd really like to see an outline of this kind of breeding. I am all for it. I've seen the line breeding charts but they only show about 5-6 years if I remember correctly. Perhaps you could write an article or something? Even if you and NYREDS collaborated on it, or whatever, I'd really like to see how its done with pointers for selection purposes and whatever else might be pertinent.

 

[fowlman01]

Walt, maybe it would be time intensive, I don't know. I'd really like to see an outline of this kind of breeding. I am all for it. I've seen the line breeding charts but they only show about 5-6 years if I remember correctly. Perhaps you could write an article or something? Even if you and NYREDS collaborated on it, or whatever, I'd really like to see how its done with pointers for selection purposes and whatever else might be pertinent.

There is a lot written on this already, but no one seems to want to try it.

Walt

 

[NWSumatras]

I could not agree more with nyreds and Walt. They know of what they speak of. I personally had a line of standard sumatras with no new blood introduced in over 15 years with exceptional results. I would have never changed either if it wasn't for being "backed in the corner" per say.

 

[raph]

Would you be able to tell us a bit about line breeding and what you would need to do it?
I live in Ireland where Sumatras are hard to come by and if you see one for sale over here it is usually very poor, I have one cockerel two related hens and two more unrelated hens, how much birds would you need to start line breeding?

 

[BGMatt]

This is how it is done by real breeders folks. All this genetic diversity and the other crazy stuff you read online is from people that simply do not know what they are doing...and it shows in their birds. People can do it anyway they like, but NYREDS and I have a proven track record that speaks for itself. Old time breeders never added new blood, unless they had to after backing themselves into a corner. You never heard the words "genetic diversity" when the very best poultry breeders were around. Genetic diversity is an online term used by online "breeders".

Walt

I find myself both agreeing and disagreeing with this. Because heterosis is definitely a real thing, and is maximized by the commercial industry to astonishing success. And if you get stock that has been improperly maintained often times things like hatchability, egg production and other factors can suffer, of course I realize that can be avoided by being more selective about whom you purchase stock from. If you find yourself in that type of situation, do you recommend working through selection? Or making an outcross or two to correct those issues?

 

[championsumatra]

Quote: Sometimes in order to get what you need in a bird you have to cross lines. For example my hamburg males have short backs, the breeder himself has worked over 40 years trying to breed out the short backs in his males. but my female lines have good long backs the female lines come from a different breeder... I have three different lines in my sumatras. They seem to be laying better and they seem to be more resistance to disease than the first line I started out with. I truly don't believe in inbreeding. I am all for line breeding if it is done responsibly and the breedings of each chicken is recorded.

 

[raph]

There's a picture of my coat hanger now it's varnished and finished, and a picture of my art work, that's my first ever drawing using pastille. And I have now got 4 light Sussex chicks and 1 sumatra egg was fertile and it is pipping as we speak!
And a picture of a chick who hatched today who is very tired.