- Nov 8, 2011
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So I am about as green as it gets...but one thing among others is giving me trouble.
Cross breeding verse pure bred.
Again I am new to this but using the example of cattle breeding programs, terminal sires and improving heritage traits...why do the same "factors" not seem to apply to chickens?
Time and time again I read posts about "will not breed true"...basically with any x-breed but the main example being a Cornish-anything cross.
Maybe what is catching me up is the mindset...or the definitions...I'm not sure...but where cattle breeders see improvements those who raise chickens see more of a defect.
The way I am seeing things is in general meat verse layers...dual purpose being more towards a slightly heavier layer...
Why do people need so many eggs compared to meat?...and I'm sure this is the wrong approach but here goes:
If the average person according to the USDA eat 4 eggs and a chicken a week...why do we need birds who can lay upwards of 300+ a year?...and if the average person eats a bird a week...and Cornish-X is the best we have...are we not using the genetics of that to mix with the DP layers to create such a pure bread chicken that can give us 100+ eggs with growth akin of a CX?
In 13-years (if I remember correctly) a monk in 1900's decided to make his chicken and the Chanteckler was recognized...but today when people talk about meaties verse layers it's like two armies and no middle ground except to say DP's are the worst of both except by virtue of breeding true and arguably taste.
The cattle guys seem to have more of a "math" side to it perhaps...and yet they do not cull cattle the way most cull chickens with the time involved.
I guess my bare bones question is this. Is a pure breed chicken one we can raise in our own back yard that can be brought to the freezer in 14+ weeks and lay 60+ eggs in 14-28-weeks not an achievable and realistic goal?
Why should we not be taking a standard Cornish-X and its 50-eggs a year of worst egg laying ability and cross it?
The cattle guys call it inheritability...and it's "odds"...you might get this, you might get that...and do enough of it and you will get what you are looking for. The rest, as the saying goes, are meat.
Why do chicken breeders who cull more then most seem different in this?
Cross breeding verse pure bred.
Again I am new to this but using the example of cattle breeding programs, terminal sires and improving heritage traits...why do the same "factors" not seem to apply to chickens?
Time and time again I read posts about "will not breed true"...basically with any x-breed but the main example being a Cornish-anything cross.
Maybe what is catching me up is the mindset...or the definitions...I'm not sure...but where cattle breeders see improvements those who raise chickens see more of a defect.
The way I am seeing things is in general meat verse layers...dual purpose being more towards a slightly heavier layer...
Why do people need so many eggs compared to meat?...and I'm sure this is the wrong approach but here goes:
If the average person according to the USDA eat 4 eggs and a chicken a week...why do we need birds who can lay upwards of 300+ a year?...and if the average person eats a bird a week...and Cornish-X is the best we have...are we not using the genetics of that to mix with the DP layers to create such a pure bread chicken that can give us 100+ eggs with growth akin of a CX?
In 13-years (if I remember correctly) a monk in 1900's decided to make his chicken and the Chanteckler was recognized...but today when people talk about meaties verse layers it's like two armies and no middle ground except to say DP's are the worst of both except by virtue of breeding true and arguably taste.
The cattle guys seem to have more of a "math" side to it perhaps...and yet they do not cull cattle the way most cull chickens with the time involved.
I guess my bare bones question is this. Is a pure breed chicken one we can raise in our own back yard that can be brought to the freezer in 14+ weeks and lay 60+ eggs in 14-28-weeks not an achievable and realistic goal?
Why should we not be taking a standard Cornish-X and its 50-eggs a year of worst egg laying ability and cross it?
The cattle guys call it inheritability...and it's "odds"...you might get this, you might get that...and do enough of it and you will get what you are looking for. The rest, as the saying goes, are meat.
Why do chicken breeders who cull more then most seem different in this?
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