When does a bloodline become "Yours"

[Mahonri]

In a couple of years, I'll be able to say those W/BW Amerauanas are Mahonri's, but not until I have culled, culled, culled and kept the very best birds for matings.

Right now I just have birds that mostly originated from Jean Ribbeck and they are gorgeous, but I also have some great birds that came from Paul Smith's lines and Wayne Meredith. And while I culled heavily from last years hatch, I don't feel I can yet call them, "Dar Davis' line"... give me a few years. I'm working on size, egg color, leg color and hackle/feather color at present.

 

[cashdl]

I think honesty is key no matter what. Ok you buy two breeding pairs from a well known breeder, let say they are pair 1 and pair two. They are good quality birds but even good quality can throw bad. So you take offspring from each and set up breeding pens all still using the birds or offspring from the original two pairs. At that point it would be unfair of you to classify the resulting offspring from these new pens as the original breeders lines even though they all have the original blood lines in them. You most likely didn't cull to the standards of the original breeder. The choice of pairings was yours not theirs. You can tell people that your original blood lines came from so and so breeder but I would think it important to clarify that you are now the breeder of your lines. If you are breeding, not to the original standards or thoughts of the breeder your birds came from, they are your lines now, own it. Otherwise you may be just using their name to sell your birds or eggs, unfairly so.

Lanae

 

[roocrazy]

this is very interesting

 

[TennesseeTruly]

Okay here is a "for example". I developed my own bantam EE's. I used bantam Ameraucana's & a few small EE roos. They're clearly mine. They don't look like hatchery bantam EE's. Right now they seem to be carrying a certain "signature". Of course I'm only going into F3 right now, but they seem unique.

 

[NYREDS]

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This would be my position as well.

 

[Celtic Hill]

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This would be my position as well.

I find it hard to grap this concept (and im trying) i guess its because im a horse person and we specify bloodlines with a specific gene pool and it carries with it's progny through registration papers and i guess because you don't "register" chickens it makes it diffrent.

 

[cubalaya]

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what i have been noticing is people who buy birds from these 'name' breeders , use the name to sell their birds cheaper than the name people do. for example: "hatching eggs for sale, blue jesey giant. both parents maria hall line $20." maria hall sells hatching eggs for $55. so the person that gets the $20 eggs hatches some chicks and sells them as maria hall blue jersey giants. at this point they are no longer maria hall lines.

 

[Mervin]

This is a very interesting topic and something I wondered about myself. I think the conversation runs both ways. I bought some Welsummer chicks from a breeder this spring with the intent of keeping a self-sustaining flock and not much else. The breeder mentioned the line and, at the time, I was not all that interested. As the chicks grew, it became obvious that there were several chicks were carrying genes from outcrosses (guessing Langshan). Only two hens and one rooster ended up being anything I'd want to work with at all. The rooster was pretty ill-tempered so I decided to scrap the project altogether. I just wasn't impressed with the stock at all. If you're a serious breeder, at some point, you have to be concerned about who's using your name.

 

[Gallusfarm]

The hard part is taking the plunge with using your name. I bet a lot of folks, after years of hard work selectively breeding, still state that the line originated from renowned breeder xyz.

When in fact, their work, or line is a lot better than another individual who also acquired stock from the same breeder and has not selectively bred, but still states that that the line originated from said breeder. It's a powerful marketing tool.

I guess that's why it's best to visit various breeders (if possible) and see for yourself what they have and what their breeding program is like. I bet there are a lot of great lines out there that just aren't advertised as such.

So I say if you've worked hard for years, don't be afraid to let folks know that yes, this is my line.

 

[Gallusfarm]

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Exactly!