I am new to chickens, so I don't and won't (for a looooooong time) consider myself to be a chicken breeder, but I'd like to share my experience with purebred dog breeding as it may help just a tad to explain what a responsible, quality breeder does and does not do.
Although I have had over 20 (adult years) experience with dogs, when I started in my rare breed (I wanted a breed that wasn't overpopulating the earth) I did not consider myself a breeder. Just someone that had a supurb eye for a good dog. I could "see" movement, breed type, and quality. I started with the very best quality foundation female (don't understand why we can't say the correct word on here, but oh, well...just out of curosity can you say cock?) that money could buy and I turned down stock from people that were "top" breeders in their mind, because the pups were not up to my standards. I looked for the best male to compliment by female and traveled to do the breeding. I didn't just use my friends dog because it was close or cheap. We evaluated the pups with a harsh eye and only showed the cream of the crop. Some of it was good genetics and excellent nutrition, but we made hard decisions and stuck to our ethics about putting show dogs in show homes and pets in pet homes. We took responsibility for everything we produced. And I understand in chickens that means culling in many situations. After 10 years in the breed we have accomplished what few 30 year breeders have...including having top winners in the Country (based on the dogs merit not politics) and my female will go down in history as the top producer in her breed. So...if dog breeders are like chicken breeders, I think it depends on a lot of factors and hard work. It's knowing what to use and not use in the program. It's being ethical. And it's DOING a LOT of hard work.
Although I have had over 20 (adult years) experience with dogs, when I started in my rare breed (I wanted a breed that wasn't overpopulating the earth) I did not consider myself a breeder. Just someone that had a supurb eye for a good dog. I could "see" movement, breed type, and quality. I started with the very best quality foundation female (don't understand why we can't say the correct word on here, but oh, well...just out of curosity can you say cock?) that money could buy and I turned down stock from people that were "top" breeders in their mind, because the pups were not up to my standards. I looked for the best male to compliment by female and traveled to do the breeding. I didn't just use my friends dog because it was close or cheap. We evaluated the pups with a harsh eye and only showed the cream of the crop. Some of it was good genetics and excellent nutrition, but we made hard decisions and stuck to our ethics about putting show dogs in show homes and pets in pet homes. We took responsibility for everything we produced. And I understand in chickens that means culling in many situations. After 10 years in the breed we have accomplished what few 30 year breeders have...including having top winners in the Country (based on the dogs merit not politics) and my female will go down in history as the top producer in her breed. So...if dog breeders are like chicken breeders, I think it depends on a lot of factors and hard work. It's knowing what to use and not use in the program. It's being ethical. And it's DOING a LOT of hard work.