when does the breed become YOUR line?

[SundownWaterfowl]

What about when you use several breeders lines/strains in your breeding pens? With my buffs I started breeding 3 years ago, I used birds from about 3-4 different breeders and bred them together. My bbs birds I started with last year, I think I have about 5 or 6 different breeders birds. When do those become your strain/line?

 

[snowbird]

Quote:
Soon as you mix up the lines they are your fowl. I believe that if you bought a bird and showed it and someone asked what line it was you should say where it came from. In all the years I have showed fowl I have never showed a bird I bought from someone else. I raise young fowl and then show them. If I were to advertise eggs or fowl for sale would never mention someone's name unless I was asked by someone interested in buying.

 

[buffalogal]

Quote:
Quote:
They are your breeding, but by no means have you created a strain or a line simply because you put two birds together and got fertile eggs. You get to claim strain status when they are consistently producing traits that are not present in the parent stock. Maybe you improve the size, tail set, combs, overall type, color. Just crossing A over B and getting C isn't enough. You need A over B producing C (for outCross) then breeding C to C long enough that you actually move to D.

Those D birds are your strain. Keep after it long enough, and they become your D Line, (for highly Desirable); an individual of your D line breeding is recognized as being distinct from every other bird of that breed; other breeders know they can purchase birds from your flock and they will produce this or that trait.

Edited to add; because you can't get to D without linebreeding, I consider a line to be older and more established than a strain. A strain is really just a group that is somewhat homogeneous; for example, every hatchery worth it's scratch has it's own "strain" of Cornish Rock broiler crosses, and there are several strains of sex links that go by different names.

 

[JenEric Farms]

Very interesting reading!

 

[dinahmoe]

Quote:
got it.
thanks

i am understanding it more and more with each post.
thanks guys.