Breeding to Improve

[Anonymous]

Hi all.

I have recently bought a trio of Croad Langshans that I would like to start breeding with a view to showing. I thought that breeding was straight forward but aftdr doing some research, breeding to improve seems complicated - inbreeding, line breeding, outcrossing !!! I'm confused!! How should I start this year? My birds are all unrelated - I'm guessing that's a good thing? At the moment, I've got them all in the same pen - should I split the hens up so I can identify which hen is laying which egg so I can work out which one is producing the best offspring? Or should I just leave them to get on with it and select the best offspring they both produce?

Any help gratefully received!!

 

[Davidd]

Hello, firstly you need to know the breed standard - you would try to buy the best stock you can. As you already have your birds then you need to pick the best trio/pair which are true to type and then work out which hens are laying which eggs- with experience you can identify their eggs- if not you may need to trap nest. No birds are perfect examples and you need to try to keep your birds strong points and breed out the faults. Try not to add too much new blood as you only inherit other peoples faults- especially if your birds are of a good standard- any questions please ask, regards,
David

 

[Anonymous]

Great - thanks for the help. I am hoping to get a copy of the Poultry Standard Book so will be able to read up on the breed standard then. Should I take the hen I dont intend to breed with and let her run with my cochins or is it best to keep them all together?

Thanks