Seed Fowl vs Selection

[Anonymous]

Kenny,

I have some questions and concerns about breeding my birds. I am breeding Large Fowl English Orpingtons. This is my first year breeding my seed fowl.

I have heard on podcast and read in articles that If a bird does not have a particular characteristic or trait that the offspring will not have or carry that particular characteristic or trait, and also heard and read that any characteristic or trait can be developed or fixed through breeding. I have also heard get the best seed fowl you can, but also that you can start with what you have.

Say both of my seed fowl have a bad head. Would I be able to fix that through selection or will all those offspring all have bad heads?   Heads just an example.

Thanks for any guidance!

Matt

[Kenny Troiano]

Hey Matt,

Those are great questions.

It’s true, if the parents lack a trait, the offspring will lack it too. However, some traits may be simply masked, or be of a lower intensity, which would give you the impression of missing. My question for you is, which traits are you concerned with? Or think you are missing?

Some traits can be infused (last resort), and all traits can be improved on, and even exaggerated. Breeding is a balancing act. As you improve or intensify a trait, there will be a time when you will need to go in the other direction to keep from over-exaggerating a trait.

It’s alway best to start with the best fowl possible, but in most cases, you will need to start with what you have at the time. If you look at the picture below, you will see the fowl I started with, and how they evolved over time through breeding and selection, with no addition of outside blood. There is a great book, called “Start Where You Are With What You Have” by Ralph Sturgeon. I recommend you get and read it. It’s a great book. You can find my review in Members Book Club page. There is also a link to purchase the book.

Click Here for Book Info

You mention fixing birds with poor heads. Look at the offspring. Do you see variation between the sibs? You should see subtle differences from one sib to the other. That subtle variation – that is better than the others, and going in the right direction, is what you need to take your strain to the next level. This takes time, but within a few years, you should see huge improvements. Again, if you look at my birds, the chart below, that took time. It didn’t happen overnight.

Here is that chart – you can see how much they changed.

Let me know if that does not answer your question. We can do a coaching call as well.

thanks Matt!

[Anonymous]

thanks Kenny!

That line of thinking makes sense.
Much appreciated!

[Author]

Posts