Donna R Raybon
Chirping
- Apr 13, 2016
- 238
- 46
- 68
To the young lady attempting to start her own line of poultry.
Join American Poultry Association. Get a SOP and study it!
Join the breed club of breeds you are interested in breeding. These are folks who have perpetuated good genetics you wish to learn about and reproduce.
Join your local poultry club. These are the people that host and promote your local shows which feature the breeders who are APA members that breed to SOP see where this is going? All connected and chock full of folks who love getting kids started in poultry.
A note about breeding. You do a test mating among full siblings to be able to quickly and accurately determine if you do have any recessive traits hiding out. For example I hatch off thirty French Black Copper Marans from my good hen and new rooster I just purchased. As straight run birds say half pullet and half cockeral. Cull to SOP and end up with ten pullets and three cockerals. First thing I do is set up breeding pens with these full siblings and hatch off chicks to check for recessive problems like yellow skin among other things.
The given here is that through previous test matings that I myself have done and excellent ID of birds, records, etc. I know for fact my good hen is white skinned homozygous (both genes she carries are for white skin) but that new rooster I purchased, who knows. So before I get years of birds produced and sold to other breeders I dang sure better know what I got hiding. Any chicks from sibling mating have yellow skin, I have decisions to make about that rooster.
This is why some lines do fetch high prices, too. The breeder has done the meticulous work of IDing bird, kept accurate records of matings, knows SOP etc.
If you can visit whoever you get your broodstock from, besides the general health, cleanliness stuff also ask how they keep records? Birds should be ID'd with wing and/or leg bands. Look to see if they toe punch as this is best way to uniquely ID from hatch.
Join American Poultry Association. Get a SOP and study it!
Join the breed club of breeds you are interested in breeding. These are folks who have perpetuated good genetics you wish to learn about and reproduce.
Join your local poultry club. These are the people that host and promote your local shows which feature the breeders who are APA members that breed to SOP see where this is going? All connected and chock full of folks who love getting kids started in poultry.
A note about breeding. You do a test mating among full siblings to be able to quickly and accurately determine if you do have any recessive traits hiding out. For example I hatch off thirty French Black Copper Marans from my good hen and new rooster I just purchased. As straight run birds say half pullet and half cockeral. Cull to SOP and end up with ten pullets and three cockerals. First thing I do is set up breeding pens with these full siblings and hatch off chicks to check for recessive problems like yellow skin among other things.
The given here is that through previous test matings that I myself have done and excellent ID of birds, records, etc. I know for fact my good hen is white skinned homozygous (both genes she carries are for white skin) but that new rooster I purchased, who knows. So before I get years of birds produced and sold to other breeders I dang sure better know what I got hiding. Any chicks from sibling mating have yellow skin, I have decisions to make about that rooster.
This is why some lines do fetch high prices, too. The breeder has done the meticulous work of IDing bird, kept accurate records of matings, knows SOP etc.
If you can visit whoever you get your broodstock from, besides the general health, cleanliness stuff also ask how they keep records? Birds should be ID'd with wing and/or leg bands. Look to see if they toe punch as this is best way to uniquely ID from hatch.
