when does the breed become YOUR line?

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They care because they want to know the lines, for almost like "pedigrees". So, the "dutchhollow" line is known for ______ quality, ect.
 
thanks.i always tell buyers what lines i have but they are several generations down.i don't want them thinking these are directly from the breeder.
 
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If they ask, I tell people where my birds came from and how long I've been breeding them. Even if you've never added birds from any other source, after a few years, you can honestly say the flock is "your" breeding based on "that guy's line", but it is no longer "that guy's line" simply because you won't select for exactly the same things he would have. But "your breeding" doesn't mean you have a line or a strain and certainly nothing as ambitious as a new breed.

Whether or not you have a "line" depends on how homogeneous your birds are. Some people can breed birds for decades and never have anything that is identifiable as being "theirs" because every hatch they're all over the place with color, size, body shape, comb, tail set, etc.
 
pips&peeps :

Wanted to add unless the original breeder picked out the breeders for you.

I agree. An important factor is your knowledge of the breed and it's standard. If you can pick out the best from your batch on your own than you have earned them to be your line.

EB Thompson died in the 1920's and people still refer to their birds from his strain as his strain. Strain is pretty much forever, as breeders who bred for about 30 years like him are completely responsible for the strain's quality, so unless crossed with another strain it is pretty much always that breeder's strain.​
 
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I agree. An important factor is your knowledge of the breed and it's standard. If you can pick out the best from your batch on your own than you have earned them to be your line.

EB Thompson died in the 1920's and people still refer to their birds from his strain as his strain. Strain is pretty much forever, as breeders who bred for about 30 years like him are completely responsible for the strain's quality, so unless crossed with another strain it is pretty much always that breeder's strain.

I disagree with this post entirely as it only takes two years to completely destroy anyones breeding program if put into the wrong hands. If feel that if I buy fowl and raise young and pay for the feed and showel the crap then they are my line . Too many try and ride the coat tails of someone that has been dead for 75-100 years and the new people do not know the difference.
 
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I agree. An important factor is your knowledge of the breed and it's standard. If you can pick out the best from your batch on your own than you have earned them to be your line.

EB Thompson died in the 1920's and people still refer to their birds from his strain as his strain. Strain is pretty much forever, as breeders who bred for about 30 years like him are completely responsible for the strain's quality, so unless crossed with another strain it is pretty much always that breeder's strain.

I disagree with this post entirely as it only takes two years to completely destroy anyones breeding program if put into the wrong hands. If feel that if I buy fowl and raise young and pay for the feed and showel the crap then they are my line . Too many try and ride the coat tails of someone that has been dead for 75-100 years and the new people do not know the difference.

How does that make it not your line? If you have hatched from it, it is your line... But if you don't take good care of it than it will just be your horrible line. Just my personal opinion.
 
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I agree. An important factor is your knowledge of the breed and it's standard. If you can pick out the best from your batch on your own than you have earned them to be your line.

EB Thompson died in the 1920's and people still refer to their birds from his strain as his strain. Strain is pretty much forever, as breeders who bred for about 30 years like him are completely responsible for the strain's quality, so unless crossed with another strain it is pretty much always that breeder's strain.

I disagree with this post entirely as it only takes two years to completely destroy anyones breeding program if put into the wrong hands. If feel that if I buy fowl and raise young and pay for the feed and showel the crap then they are my line . Too many try and ride the coat tails of someone that has been dead for 75-100 years and the new people do not know the difference.

Amen.

Yes, if you have a breeding pen of just those birds and you follow that person's breeding program selection to a T, you may still have their line or strain. However, if you've done anything based off your own opinion, after just a few short years, it's a whole new bird really.

Especially if you add in any new blood, that is no longer that breeder's line/strain.

I agree also with one of the other posters saying that if you have consistency you've got your own strain. A blood "line" can be traced back forever, but a strain of fowl is changeable. Also, we should stop saying we have someone's line after we've done our own selective breeding that didn't follow their exact criteria... That's like me claiming I'm royalty because my greatx5th grandparents were. It just isn't so.
 
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I disagree with this post entirely as it only takes two years to completely destroy anyones breeding program if put into the wrong hands. If feel that if I buy fowl and raise young and pay for the feed and showel the crap then they are my line . Too many try and ride the coat tails of someone that has been dead for 75-100 years and the new people do not know the difference.

Amen.

Yes, if you have a breeding pen of just those birds and you follow that person's breeding program selection to a T, you may still have their line or strain. However, if you've done anything based off your own opinion, after just a few short years, it's a whole new bird really.

Especially if you add in any new blood, that is no longer that breeder's line/strain.

I agree also with one of the other posters saying that if you have consistency you've got your own strain. A blood "line" can be traced back forever, but a strain of fowl is changeable. Also, we should stop saying we have someone's line after we've done our own selective breeding that didn't follow their exact criteria... That's like me claiming I'm royalty because my greatx5th grandparents were. It just isn't so.

Line and strain are two different things if I'm correct. It seems like you're saying that a line is longterm, and a strain is just a few matings bred, then they become yours? I thought it was the other way around, which was stated earlier. I think that if you hatch from those birds and breed that offspring it is your LINE, and it takes more years for it to become your STRAIN.

Of course, this discussion is full of different opinions. When I mentioned EB Thompson I was referring to strain.
 
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Amen.

Yes, if you have a breeding pen of just those birds and you follow that person's breeding program selection to a T, you may still have their line or strain. However, if you've done anything based off your own opinion, after just a few short years, it's a whole new bird really.

Especially if you add in any new blood, that is no longer that breeder's line/strain.

I agree also with one of the other posters saying that if you have consistency you've got your own strain. A blood "line" can be traced back forever, but a strain of fowl is changeable. Also, we should stop saying we have someone's line after we've done our own selective breeding that didn't follow their exact criteria... That's like me claiming I'm royalty because my greatx5th grandparents were. It just isn't so.

Line and strain are two different things if I'm correct. It seems like you're saying that a line is longterm, and a strain is just a few matings bred, then they become yours? I thought it was the other way around, which was stated earlier. I think that if you hatch from those birds and breed that offspring it is your LINE, and it takes more years for it to become your STRAIN.

Of course, this discussion is full of different opinions. When I mentioned EB Thompson I was referring to strain.

You are correct, Nick.
 

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