SELECTION AND MATING The two most important elements in the breeding of high-quality strains As you will soon find out, there is more to breeding than […]

Variations are partly due to Environmental Influences The breeder must always keep in mind that variations are of many kinds, and are due to many causes. Except for most of the color […]

THE LOSS OF VARIATION AND THE BEGINNINGS OF A GENETIC BOTTLENECK Many know that I promote the creation and breeding of pure families and strains. However, there are some dangers to this practice […]

VARIATION PROVIDES GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR THE BREEDER Some birds of the same breed or ancestry vary in their features; it may be in the finer points of conformation of body, or it may be […]

PROGRESSION NOT REGRESSION Progression and Regression, two laws of opposing forces, which are simple to appreciate but hard to understand, one advances the […]

VARIATIONS ARE LIMITED BY THE PROCESSES OF SELECTION Although there seems to be almost no limit to the possible number of variations, they are, as everyone knows, strictly limited by […]

CULL EVERYTHING? From Chicks to Mature Fowl, and Everything In-between By Kenny Troiano Today, we will discuss the difficult duty of culling. […]

VARIATION – THE MECHANISM FOR IMPROVEMENT The object of every serious breeder is to establish, not only a good strain, but one better than any thus far produced. Breeders […]

THE SOURCE OF GENETIC VARIATION As I mentioned, I do believe this to be a Natural Law. This law may be defined as the tendency of individuals to produce progeny that […]

Variation is the mechanism for all improvement “Good fowl are multidimensional. When the attributes of appearance, temperament, and performance, harmonize to form one unified […]

KEEP’EM PURE, AND KEEP A CLOSED FLOCK As we all know, a chicken inherits a large percentage of its traits from its direct parents. Although they only inherit a small […]

THE ULTIMATE GOAL FOR EVERY BREEDER IS PERFECTION Whether it be with purebreds or hybrid-crosses, a good breeder must have the ability to observe and judge the superiority and […]

CROSSBREEDING, THE SEARCH FOR THE “GREAT NICK” One question I get a lot is, “what’s the best cross?” And, for those who are interested in purchasing my “Troiano Reds,” they ask, […]

Purebreds or Hybrids, Your Success Will Depend on Your Specific Goals and Intentions Whether you decide to keep purebreds or hybrids, your success will depend on your specific goals and intentions. Do you wish to […]

How Much Variation Could There Be? The general belief, when it comes to the uniformity of a strain, is that a group of chickens are uniform only when all the birds […]

SELECTION CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE I’ll give you two examples of how selection can change a family of fowl for the better or for the worse:  Example One: You co […]

POWER OF SELECTION – Part One I find the subject of selection to be one of the most interesting parts of breeding. Selection is a process that deals with […]