Possible breeding program

[LaurenRitz]

I am starting a breeding project for a sustainable dual purpose breed that thrives on forage, goes broody and raises its own chicks, etc. In this area, it will need to be both cold and heat hardy and able to withstand some predator pressure.

The breeds I chose were Bielefelder (roo), Jersey Giant, Mottled Java, Black Australorp, and Rhode Island Red. Because of problems I ended up with a Bielefelder pullet, three Jersey Giants, one Mottled Java. The BA'S and RIR's are still babies.

Anyway, one of the JJ's ended up being a roo, and I got an adult Biel roo from another source. So I have enough for two population groups with the breeds I selected.

I want to keep the two groups separate, unrelated for the first few generations, but I'm concerned as to what to do with the Jersey Giants.

If I leave the Jersey Giant pullets with the Bielefelder roo, the population will be heavily weighted toward JJ in the selection phase (3rd gen) and I really don't want that.

1st possibility, get rid of the JJ roo and have the Bielefelder be the foundation. Stick with one group for now.

2nd, get rid of the JJ roo and get a roo from another breed for the breakout group. Dominique and Orpington have both been suggested.

3rd, create a third population and move selection back another generation.

All viable solutions, but they all have their problems as well.

Are there other options that I haven't thought of? Solutions or problems?

The current plan is
B x MJ and JJ
JJ x BA and RR

The next generation roo for the rotation to group 2 would have to be B x MJ to avoid the weighting toward JJ for one more generation.

 

[Apis mellifera]

I am starting a breeding project for a sustainable dual purpose breed that thrives on forage, goes broody and raises its own chicks, etc. In this area, it will need to be both cold and heat hardy and able to withstand some predator pressure.

Partridge Chanteclers have all of the traits you're looking for.

 

[LaurenRitz]

This is the Dad of the 4 week old chicks.

 

[Chikyboy]

I want to do something similar to this one day. I don't know a whole lot about what gonna be in it, but it's gonna have red jungle fowl.

 

[LaurenRitz]

Breeder, or at least he said the birds come from their own populations.

The JJ roo is the same size as the Biel roo at 25 weeks. I don't know if that's fast growth or not. They're all quite large enough to deter some predators.

I have seen hawks overhead, but they seem to drift by, look, and fly away. Cats walk wide around them.

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

Selectively linebreeding a single strain from any of those breeds would produce the results you're looking for, and could be considered a landrace. All of my purebreds are landraces after I adapt them to my micro climate and local soil and environmental pathogens and endemic parasites and diseases over the course of many generations. In the course of doing so, i select for or against other traits as well... broodingand mothering, laying, weight gain and muscling, tolerance to the weather, etc. Doesn't matter if you start with siblings or an outcross (I've done both) the end result is an amalgamation that's ultimately going to be inbred by necessity because that's how you achieve these desired traits. I never mentioned anything about SOP, that's completely irrelevant. What I would encourage you to do, though, is save yourself a lot of steps trying to develop health and vigor from thin air with a bunch of hatchery stock and talk to good breeders who are already breeding for longevity and health rather than starting with hatchery birds.

I breed plants, too. Chickens and tomatoes are not the same.

Best of luck!

 

[phasianidae]

Well, they are literally wild chickens. They are great foragers and great broodies. They aren't winter hardy, but if bred carefully enough with winter hardy breeds, you could get a chicken that would be perfect.

I kept a RJF rooster outside through this last winter in -20F.

 

[LaurenRitz]

Yep. In plants it's the fourth generation when things really start to get going. I'm hoping for about the same with this project.

 

[LaurenRitz]

I need to scratch a curiosity bump. I have been told (and observed) that hens usually dismiss young cockerels.

Well, looks like I have a two generation anomaly. I currently have eggs in the incubator for a targeted JG x RIR back-cross.

The JG grandfather was amazing, once he got past the bratty teenager phase. Intelligent (for a birdbrain), polite, took care of his ladies but no sign of human aggression. He died defending his girls from a dog.

His son, JG x RIR, seems to have taken his father’s intelligence and amped up the good behavior. He’s 20 weeks old and has already become the flock master for a group of mature hens. He wing dances and finds treats for the hens, and if they refuse his advances he accepts it. He also ignores the young pullets.

I never saw any bullying or "teaching him manners." He was born after his father died, so no teaching going on from that angle either.

I am hoping for a high percentage of cockerels from his eggs so I can sort out those that carry these traits.

What is it that makes one cockerel unacceptable and sees the hens readily accept another? I have never seen another cockerel this age who wasn't a jerk, so that's probably part of it.

 

[LaurenRitz]

7 chicks hatched for my JG x RIR back-cross. One has splay leg and curled toes. Another has just curled toes. I suspect both of these are hatch injuries, as they were the two that had difficulty with their hatch. One zipped perfectly but was wedged into a sort of corner. The other zipped out the side of the egg and couldn't get leverage to get out.

Of the 7, three hatched black, two hatched brown, and two hatched pale brown/yellow.

All of the first generation chicks hatched black.