I highly doubt I will be breeding these for any purposes. I'm not comfortable with breeding anything with a murky gene pool, I still don't know much about their genetics but I know a lot of people heavily cull. I just want a couple to add some interesting colors, maybe a pair if I felt like expanding. Eight is too many for me but I don't know exactly how to move them. I know I've already lost money on them. I have no intention of telling people these are pure if I have no clue. I'm told the toes and mouth will darken but if this is the case I don't see why so many people toss them instead of waiting to see how they develop. I've also read if there's anything other than black it's not pure but then I hear 5% are black with white. Sorry for so many questions there's just a lot of misconceptions surrounding this breed and I'm trying to figure out what "standard" is.
Is the skin color black? Under the wing? the anal area? any other exposed areas? Mouth? Tongue? It would piss me off for someone to tell me to cull my chicks without actually seeing them to determine if they were truly culls of not.
Not directed at any individual...........just my thoughts and opinions
The toes and mouth will not darken up.....someone lied to you. Toenails that are clear may darken some but the toe itself will stay the same color if it's actually the toe itself. Black in the mouth and true black combs/wattles are a real challenge (Most will show mulberry in the wattles and comb by a year old)......but definitely possible. This breed is not for the beginner or the faint of heart. Breeding can be done 2 ways.......cull everything imperfect (in which case the whole flock may soon diseappear) or learn the genetics of working with the fibro genes, carefully assess each chick as an individuabefore deciding to cull and learn to choose matings with care and knowledge. My opinion (and it's only my opinion) is that option one is not the right way to do it. To me, it shows a total lack of knowledge and is a danger to this breed. To me, saying only the best should be bred and the rest discarded, is evidence of a lack of knowledge and interest in learning. I'm not trying to ruffle feathers.....just stating my opinion. If you all want cookie cutter breeds that is fine, stick with those established breeds that have no challenge presented.
You all can throw all the money into the best birds and still be on the same track if you don't take the time to study the breed, it's history (so you understand that this is not even a breed...but a type that is bred for fibro and in the country of origin, that is the main focus so what we see in the US, is a phenotype of the bird type that was desired by those who imported them.......I'd say more but do your homework and read up before spending all that money or don't cry over your losses when you should have been better prepared), learn the basiscs of genetics at the very least! And Know that if you are new to genetics...... there are those who have studied genetics for years and have still not perfected this breed....... , you are not alone.... Going the cheap route is not cheap......hatching eggs are the Worst bargain! It's more likely to cost more in the long run when you have nothing to show for your efforts that have taken weeks and weeks of your time for sometimes nothing.
There is a Lot of genetic information, old scientific papers, written on the genes responsible for full expression of fibro.(I would post them here but I had to learn to find it and you can too.) You can accomplish a lot with just that knowledge and a bunch of culls to establish a pretty fair hen flock. Once you have deternined what you're flock of hens is lacking, a proper rooster is likely going to be available from breeders who have a few years already put in to their flocks. That one added bird can change everything and in the process.......you will have a much better grasp on what it takes to work with this breed. There are not as many culls as you would think when you understand the mechanism and stop the pity party about not getting the birds you want in that first hatching or breeding season. Again .... my opinion.
