siblings

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can i keep sibling hen and cockeral together when they grow up?
 
Hi saffpaff, welcome to the forum! :-)99 :D :-)99 :-)99
You can keep a sibling cock and pullet together, but her eggs should not be used for breeding while she is with her bro, because inbreeding can cause the enhancement of undisirable traits.
 
I thought you had to inbreed to keep and develop the best characteristics. Breeding between siblings and taking the best of them to breed from again until you have achieved the desired standard, be it show or utility. I have also read that you don't get any deformities until you have inbred 10 generations, at which time presumably you introduce new blood, presumably a new cockerel, and start again. If have also read that some people have been breeding their lines for 25 years to get the best birds. Perhaps somone can explain?
 
I am so interested to hear the views on this as I have a young chap that may have to be put in with a potential sibling (I missed the hatching so I am not sure if he is totally unrelated from the bought in eggs or a same batch egg that I hatched at the same time).
 
This year i have bred from a brother sister pairing and had excellent fertility and some cracking offspring and i have bred father daughter and had 100% fertility and good offspring. The problems only really start after a few generations of inbreeding so i wouldnt worry at all.
 
Inbreeding or even line breeding should only be attempted if both hens and cocks are sound healthy specimens with no major conformation faults. It seems that many show people breed closely and cull hard and culling hard is something you have to be prepared to do.
For utility, which is my main interest, it is not a good idea to breed too closely and often two unrelated lines will give you a certain amount of 'hybrid vigour' which can increase egg production.
For general poultry breeding by beginners or people breeding for interest, it's best not to mate closely related birds in my opinion. Related birds can live together and mate freely though,if you don't intend hatching eggs or selling eggs for hatching.
 
chrismahon said:
I thought you had to inbreed to keep and develop the best characteristics. Breeding between siblings and taking the best of them to breed from again until you have achieved the desired standard, be it show or utility. I have also read that you don't get any deformities until you have inbred 10 generations, at which time presumably you introduce new blood, presumably a new cockerel, and start again. If have also read that some people have been breeding their lines for 25 years to get the best birds. Perhaps somone can explain?
Click to expand...

There is a difference between "inbreedng" and "line breeding" line breeding means simply developing your own "line" or "strain" of a breed, for specific and favourable characteristics, could be for utility or exhibition. This means usually through a careful process of selection and breeding from your own birds, breeding 2 or 3 lines but each time daughter to father, grand-daughter to father and so forth..

There is an excellent section here on showing, which also goes some way to explaining what this looks like.

http://poultrykeeper.com/chickens/shows-and-showing/

Laurence Beeken has also written some excellent articles here on the breeding and selection process:

http://poultrykeeper.com/chickens/shows-and-showing/making-your-own-line-of-birds.html
 
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