DOES YOUR COCK OR HEN HAVE THE POWER TO IMPRESS THIER INFLUENCE ONTO THEIR OFFSPRING? This is a concept that can be hard to explain. Webster’s dictionary describes it as: “Having exceptional power; authority or inf […]

HOW THE INFUSION OF THE WRONG BLOOD CAN DESTROY A FAMILY The law of contamination has never been so widely considered, and its effects measured, as it is among breeders of poultry. Reason […]

HOW SOME TRAITS HAVE A DIRECT EFFECT ON OTHER TRAITS There is no doubt that marvelous things can be done with chickens. Selective Breeding is a wonderful mechanism for creating and […]

BREED TOWARDS PROGRESSION, NOT REGRESSION, AT ALL TIMES Progression and Regression are two laws of opposing forces that are simple to appreciate but hard to understand. One advances the […]

What’s the Best Time of Year to Purchase Brood fowl? Purchasing good brood fowl is all about timing. As you will see, there are good times and bad times to visit a breeder’s farm to s […]

Reversion or Simple Degeneration? When the offspring resemble a distant ancestor, to a noticeable degree, we refer to it as a “Throwback.” In other words, a t […]

Evolution of the Modern Day Fowl By what process has the small Junglefowl been converted into the breeds that we see today? What brought about the change that enables […]

Finding Those Great Individuals Might Just Take You to the Most Unexpected Places The random combination of genes that exist within our fowl allows the breeder the […]

The Power of a Previous Mating There are breeders who believe that the parent of one sex has more influence on one particular trait or a combination of traits, […]

DOES LIKE ALWAYS BEGET LIKE? “Like Begets Like,” is a common phrase used by many breeders. It simply means that there is a strong similarity be­tween the pare […]

THEIR FUNCTIONALITY DETERMINES THEIR FORM “It is therefore very desirable, before any man commences to breed, that he should make up his mind to the shape and qualities he […]

Natures Influence on Domestication How we can use the Mechanisms of Evolution to Improve our Selective Breeding Practices Our Special Guest is Rick Coste, Author of […]

Mutations are not the result of Selection Occasionally there may be indi­viduals that show characteristics that differ quite noticeably from those expressed by their parents […]

PURE LINES VS. GENETIC VARIATION One thing I have learned from the best breeders in the world is that – they are not afraid to inbreed or line-breed to produce or […]

WHY VARIATION IS IMPORTANT! As we know, the domestic chicken possesses numerous characteristics and traits, this point must be emphasized. For instance, I have a […]

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 […]