Are changes produced by the environment inherited? There has been quite a bit of discussion these days about acquired characteristics – “Are changes produced by the environment […]

Starting Over: When Your Strain Isn’t Worth Saving
 How to Identify Genetic Dead Ends and Reset Your Breeding Program for Success Have you ever found yourself questioning whether […]

Is There Such Thing as a Perfect Bird? Let me begin by saying that purchasing fowl through the mail is similar to playing the lottery. You hope for high quality fowl, but […]

Form, Function and Purity of Blood The total package is what counts! Special note of interest: Although I use American Games as the example, this information is good […]

What to Start With (Eggs, Chicks or Mature Fowl)? Once you know the kind of fowl you want, and who you are going to buy them from, the next step is to decide whether to purchase brood […]

Best Sources for Good Fowl – And, Never Settle for Second Rate Feed stores and mail-order hatcheries do a great job marketing and selling layers and meat chickens, not to mention general purpose […]

ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION OR NATURAL INCUBATION Which do you prefer? I’m often asked, which do I prefer, the incubator or the setting hen? I like to use both, but for different r […]

THAT SENSATIONAL SETTING HEN What would we do without her? (The rooster may crow, but the hen delivers the goods) “As sitters and mothers they are invaluable, q […]

INHERITANCE OF CHARACTERS 101 The breeding pen is to us what the test tube is to the chem­ist, an instrument whereby we examine the nature of our organisms and […]

Homozygous or Heterozygous, what do they really mean? We hear the words “homozygous”and “heterozygous,”but do you really know what they mean, and how they affect the breeding of our fowl? […]

Understanding the difference between Genotype and Phenotype The terms “genotype” and “phenotype” were first used by Danish geneticist, Wilhelm Johannsen in 1911 to describe the entire genetic or […]

The Fundamentals of Reproduction It is not my intention to discuss the entire, but diverse, field of genetics. However, in order to understand your breeding results, […]

KNOWING YOUR STRAIN IS INDEED IMPORTANT! I have a family of American Games that I call my Troiano Reds. Someday I will come up with a better name, but due to a lack of […]

Effective Breeding Techniques: Line Breeding, Inbreeding & The Three-Line Solution In this roundtable episode, hosts Kenny Troiano and Frank Bradley talk about the complexities of breeding and creating strains, […]

5 STEP PROCESS TO PURIFYING THE BLOODLINE As an Academy Member, there are 5 important steps I would like you to take before diving into the breeding programs and beginning the […]

In-and-In Breeding Decoded: A Balanced Approach to Purity and Diversity In this episode, we go deep into one of the most misunderstood breeding strategies in the creation of a strain: In-and-In Breeding. […]

WHAT TO DO ABOUT THOSE QUARRELSOME HENS Her influence can make or break the family, and temperament is key! Now, let’s direct our attention towards the brood hens. Yes, […]