If'n you were to concentrate on one or two breeds.....

I run multiple hens with multiple roos. Hoping for as many permutations and combinations of genetics as possible, then selecting the offspring for type. Breeding the best, one trait at a time. I try to hatch every possible good quality egg I get and this year I plan to heartlessly cull newborn chicks for poor feet. I want to see that fourth toe point backwards and a good long fifth toe with excellent separation and pointing upwards and backwards. The feet I have seen would give you shudders. I even have one right now with two toenails on the fifth toe and many born without toenails on some toes at all.

Also, inbreeding does not frighten me and I plan to do some tight line breeding in the future, once the breed looks more like it should. inbreeding does not magically create problems. It shows you the problems you have. I want to see those problems and deal with them.

Toybarons and I are pumped to think of this small but important legacy we may be able to leave in the chicken world. Hopefully others will see it as important as we do and we can find people to take off where we leave. Or we will crash and burn in our attempts and will have learned valuable breeding lessons.

whoa...wow lots of information here...had no idea...
Of course, I had some idea, but not the extent perhaps.
So..Are there good resources out there that can start one on a plan?
A book on breeding-to perfect the breed?
Are there plans available?
I guess, I wouldn't need to start where you Heda, Sue, Cynthia and others are...I could start at the beginning just with the birds I enjoy and allow myself the time to learn all of the processes required for a good specimen of the breed.

You guys keep going comment away...This is so interesting

BC boy....you did not hijack!

toybarons wrote: Working with some heritage breeds are easier than others. You may want to consider that when going with a breed. If you choose a really scarce, rare breed, finding suitable stock to start with may be hard to do. It may mean weeding through a lot of inferior stock just to find a few good birds.

Good point!
I am interested in the Marans, however my current hens (3) have a #5 colour in the colour wheel of eggs. I have a rooster from Earl Labounty and I have no idea what colour he (the rooster Earl...not Earl the guy.. we named the roo after Earl) is going to throw into the eggs. I have read that it is difficult to find the layers of the very dark eggs in North America due to a ban on imports...i have no idea if this is true.

and Americauna's have heard it is difficult to get a nice mannered roo. My previous Rooster (now sadly dead    ) was from the John Blehm lines and I think most people also have said their birds are from the same lines.
So...is there a ban on imports?
Do people send away for a rooster or hens from the other side of the continent?

I am after an abundance of colourful eggs for my customers and for me to marvel at...so the back yard brood works well for me... I do however want to keep a particular breed...

I will say that there is not a ban on imports, from the US or overseas, but there are some hoops you have to jump through.

John Blehm ameracaunas are usually very good birds, he is a breeder that breeds to standard and actively shows his own stock.

I have currently put my focus on 2 breeds, the Dominique and Langshan. In the future I hope to expand into another breed or two, but I am constantly having to hold myself back. The temptation is just too great!

First decide why you are breeding. If you want to learn about breeding to the SOP the best plan is to start with the best stock you can find in your chosen breed. Solid white or black is easiest. Have a good breeder as a mentor. It is hard to see type, so talk to others about your birds and learn to look at them critically.

I would have a good base of knowledge in place about breeding good quality before I would attempt to tackle a breed that does not fit the SOP and that you want to improve.

I am not going to address breeding purely for profit, nor will I condemn it. It is just an area where I have no experience. My birds are a money sucking hobby not a money making enterprise.

Thanks Sue! That was very helpful.

I think getting a Standard of Perfection book and spending some time looking through it would be a good place to start after keeping a variety of birds. Then you could see - or begin to see (if you are like me) how different some of your breeds are from the SOP, see if there are any "projects" that excite you.

There are a few different ways you can go about it. You can group join as Sue does or you can join single pairs of birds to have a bit more control. A few small cages for pairs or trios and change up the males when you want. I knew one breeder that had hens in individual cages and the rooster only visited every second or third day.

I like to have a rooster pen so I can keep more than one male to use. I have two pens I use for breeding pens for one breed. I usually have a couple of older hens I like to make sure I get sons from so they are put in a pen with the male of my choice. The other pen I will use for group breeding's. Just how I am doing it at the moment. I am able to keep a couple of different lines going with the two pens and it gives me some choices. Just make sure you mark and document everything so you remember what your schemes were!   

I don't think there is a 'right' way to do it, you have to find what works for you. It is important to think about if you want to keep your flock closed. Do you want to breed to the SOP? Are you happy to outcross with a bird from another breeder every few years (and handle the fall out) in order to keep just one breeding pen at home. Try to start with birds from a few different lines so you have some choices about the direction you want to go. Don't breed yourself into a corner to quickly.
I like having people that are 'partners' and have some of my blood and I know I can go back to them if I get into trouble. Kinda like what Sue and Toybarons are doing. You can both do your own thing, but you have a sounding board and something to go back to if you need to.
Just some ideas for you.

Yes, I can see it really depends on how your buildings and pens are set up and who is around to work with. I'm such a long way from anywhere I more or less plan on a closed flock especially now that I have acquired couple of lines from breeders retiring from "my" breeds, so I'd like to keep those lines going. So that's helpful too Coopslave.

Once the breed starts to look more like how they should look, I will set up pairs and trios in breeding pens as Coopie suggests, to fine tune the breed.  At that point I should be able to pick birds that compliment each others strengths and weaknesses.

Every time I think about those Houdans I am planning and plotting.  I find breeding to be a very creative enterprise.

Hmmm, now who is hijacking?

Schipperkesue wrote: Hmmm, now who is hijacking?

nope..still no hijacking..it is all good conversation

heda gobbler wrote:Is there a heritage breed that IS doing really well?  It seems to me everyone wanting to work on a breed struggles to find good birds and other breeders.  They are around but distances and low numbers seem to make it all difficult.  Most people around here only have barnyard mix birds.  

This might have been mentioned before but it really helps if you have a partner with the same breeds to share with. It doesn't have to be someone in your neighbourhood, but that would certainly make things easier! I'm experimenting with a couple of hard-to-find varieties, but its good to know I have a friend with the same ones. If I have a bad year or vice-versa, we have each other to fall back on. And when I need new blood I know where to get breeding stock that of the same bloodline, but not too closely related. since we are not in the same province it means flying birds, but to me the price of a flight is well worth it if you can get what you need.