The Frugal Small Flock SOP Breeder

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Honestly, I'd rather avoid trap nesting if I can because it seems fussy to me. I don't like intruding into a bird's routine more than necessary. I'll reconsider that if I ever get to the point of either making tiny refinements or identifying a super mating. That seems a long way off at this point. :D
 
I couldn't agree more. With my chosen breed, any disruption is a problem. Sequestering birds will immediately halt laying. Not the best thing to find out who's laying the best or what.
If you don't want to disturb them, as I don't, I recommend pairing them in pens/houses.
 
This seems like a perfect idea!

Right now I am in the process of saving up for 6 straight run 1-2 week old Isbars from Omega Hills in their Starter Flock package, and 2 or 3 chicken coops that would hold 2-3 chickens, depending on the male to female ratio. The grand subtotal? About $300!

Why Isbars? To my knowledge, there is no SOP for Isbars anywhere in the world, as it is not yet a finished breed. I plan to add auto-sexing a trait (as planned by the Isbar's creator, Swedish monk Martin Silverudd), improve the egg color (a minty-mossy green), improve their egg production farther, work on a calm and docile personality, and ultimately raise awareness for this almost-lost breed. They are cold-hardy, (which is good for people like me in the Upper Midwest), and are prolific layers, approximately 150-200 eggs per year. Since there is so many genetic problems with this breed, and the gene pool is so small and eventually there will be genetic deformities/illnesses due to inbreeding, in 3 or 4 generations, I plan to mix in some of Greenfire Farms import line and also birds from the flocks of some breeders on BYC. Perhaprs even in the future I will begin to work with these breeders...

Sorry to blabber on, but I am so excited about this breed. I think I've struck gold!
 
ChickenCanoe said:
Handling the bird once and having a pen of hens won't tell you which bird is productive or laying the eggs you're hatching. Just my thoughts.
Click to expand...

I think it would depend on how many birds there are in each pen, right? I had two hens in the breeding coop this past winter. I could easily tell which hen started to lay in December and which hen started to lay in February. I could count the eggs from that coop cuz even I can count to two. Most days anyway. I did keep records.

I'll divide the breeding habitat into two parts this fall (it's a big coop/run). That's also where I'm raising this year's chicks. Only the best looking pullets will stay in the breeding pen, on the side where I will keep their father. The original two hens will stay on the other side of the divide and will get the best looking cockerel to stay in with them. So I won't really have to move the breeding birds at all for next year.

The other pullets I hatched this year will go into the egg flock. The cockerels will get their own colony and I will keep at least one backup. I may swap out a few of the roos in the egg flock for these cockerels.

I had been thinking I'd make breeding selections for the pullets based on a couple different criteria: Best Color; Best Shape; Most Precocious. Now I'm not so sure as there aren't so many pullets showing anything close to the right color. I only get to choose one cockerel to breed back to the mothers ... I'll have to go with Best Shape for that, I think, and cross my fingers he has at least as good color as his father.

Eventually I'm hoping to get to the point where I can really select for productivity because that is super important to me with a Dual Purpose breed. I want big cockerels in a reasonable amount of time, and I want good winter layers. I just think that's a few years off at least. We need to get the breed looking right first.

Edited to add: I also have to move the foster broody hens from the breeding coop back into the egg-making flock when I divide the coop/run this fall. I did hatch out some "mutts" from the breeding coop this year, and while that's cute, it is something I'd like to avoid next year. Next year I think I'll hatch directly in the egg-making coop. It will be interesting to see how well I can keep track of the chicks in there.
 
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Here is a nice little PDF about breeding from the first year from the Livestock Conservancy.

http://www.albc-usa.org/documents/ALBCchicken_assessment-3.pdf

A list of some of the other publications available through the ALBC

http://albc-usa.etapwss.com/index.php/heritage/internal/chicken-manual

That page has cool things like toe punch charts and evaluation forms for selecting breeders and assessing chicks.

This page is a writeup by Bob Blosl explaining how he would get started with a line breeding project. One of the things I like about what he describes here is how few birds he suggests a breeder can start with ... it seems to be a nicely calm approach.

http://bloslspoutlryfarm.tripod.com/id61.html

And here is Bob explaining Line Breeding.

http://bloslspoutlryfarm.tripod.com/id60.html
 
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I've been around show poultry for 55 years, and I kept thinking "OK, I probably know an 'SOP flock' by some other name ..." In going through the process to reset my password so I could ask, I realized it probably just means "Standard of Perfection." Never mind me -- a member of another generation. I've enjoyed your posts; we raised Sussex at one point, but I wouldn't say our Lights were ever very good. I never encountered quality Lights in the old days, but I see photos of great ones occasionally now.
 

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