Watching some breeding threads... some questions

[Chicabee19]

Is it a given in any breeding program that you pretty much HAVE to raise a resultant roo when you are breeding for traits since a roo will look so different from a resultant hen?

Seems like a roo really displays some traits more loudly than a hen.

 

[tadkerson]

The color of the female chicken is due to the estrogen that is produced by her ovaries and transferred to the feather follicle. Males do not produce estrogen so their coloring is due to the absence of estrogen. This is why the color of males and females is different. Even the plumage is different in males and females which is due to the presence (female plumage) or absence (male plumage) of female hormones in the skin.

Tim

 

[wclawrence]

Excellent facts to know, Tim!
Chicabee, I guess if you have a breeding program you will have to keep roosters and hens just to keep it going. What I mean is, can you give us an example? Because it really depends upon what you are breeding for.
Thanks!

 

[Kev]

Yeah. that is why some old hens develop rooster plumage, after their ovary stops working or develops some kind of problem. Estrogen drops off and...

Females growing male colors and plumage is rather common in old peahens that don't lay eggs anymore.

 

[Chicabee19]

I'm not really sure where I was going with this... it was just a question that popped up while I was studying breeding techniques.

Of course you can't be a breeder without roosters, but it seems (to me) that you should not breed w/o allowing some resultant roos to grow to adulthood, because knowing their traits is a large part of knowing what your breeding results really are.

ergo... you can't do much in-depth breeding work if you are only allowed to have hens on your property. At least not w/o a lot of travel and extra work!