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Ear Color, How Many Lines, etc.
Tailfeathers:
Thanks everyone for the replies. Mike I like the \"double fault\" rule and will use that. I also like the \"never breed two birds together with the same fault\".
So now I have a follow up question. When looking at my #7 cockerel with the really clean hackles but has pinkish white ears, and then looking at what I wrote about the #7 females... would you then say to not breed the #7 male to any #7 females that also have light ears? Or, in other words, due to all the other characteristics of the other #7 females, can I expect to get nothing but light ears from breeding a brother to sister when both have light ears?
Obviously there must be some red ear genes in the line because I\'ve got #7\'s with nice really red ears. My thought is more intense inbreeding coupled with ruthless culling would expedite cleaning up the line or eliminating it altogether. True or no? And since I don\'t know which is the dominant and which is the recessive gene, that\'s why I ask.
Schroeder, the #7 is the toe-punch ID of the bird from last years #7 breeding pen which consisted of my #12 W Roo over my #10 BW hens.
God Bless,
Mike Gilbert:
--- Quote from: Tailfeathers --- So now I have a follow up question. When looking at my #7 cockerel with the really clean hackles but has pinkish white ears, and then looking at what I wrote about the #7 females... would you then say to not breed the #7 male to any #7 females that also have light ears? Or, in other words, due to all the other characteristics of the other #7 females, can I expect to get nothing but light ears from breeding a brother to sister when both have light ears?
Obviously there must be some red ear genes in the line because I\'ve got #7\'s with nice really red ears. My thought is more intense inbreeding coupled with ruthless culling would expedite cleaning up the line or eliminating it altogether. True or no? And since I don\'t know which is the dominant and which is the recessive gene, that\'s why I ask.
--- End quote ---
It\'s difficult to answer this without some photos of your #7 clean hackled cockerel. Any chance you take a few shots and post them here? But other things being equal, I would use the #7 K in several ways. But if he has white in the lobes I would not mate him to females that have enamel white in the lobes. Pale or pink is different than white. Nearly all my Ameraucana females have pale lobes and I consider that a breed characteristic, especially in the bantams. But I do look for good red lobes in the males.
Here is how I might use him. First I would mate him with one or more white egg layers to see if he throws any that do not lay blue eggs. I never mate brothers and sisters. Cockerels to their mothers, cocks to their pullet offspring, yes, but not brother/sister. I would also mate him with some of your best blue egg layers that have red earlobes.
Since clean hackles seem to be so rare in this variety, I would consider mating him back to his best daughters next season. Those daughters would have to have good lobe color and lay a decent shade of blue egg. All this assumes no major type flaws which would require compensatory matings.
Again, photos would help.
Tailfeathers:
Thanks Mike. Just FYI, none of my birds have enamel white in the earlobes. At least I don\'t think they do. They certainly don\'t look like a normal white-eared chicken. Some are just pale or pinkish. Some are more white but it\'s still not what I\'d call a enamel or ear like a normal white-eared bird. Leghorn for example.
Unfortunately, I don\'t have a digital camera handy anymore. The one I had was the wife\'s Christmas present and she took that with her of course. If I ever make any money this year, the first thing I\'m treating myself to is a new Canon 7D though!
I\'m copying your notes to my breeding plan so I can remember. Thanks!
How come you would \"never\" breed a brother to sister?
God Bless,
Mike Gilbert:
--- Quote from: Tailfeathers ---
How come you would \"never\" breed a brother to sister?
--- End quote ---
It is the most extreme form of inbreeding, and repeated use of this method year after year will usually accelerate inbreeding attributes such as decreased production, decreased hatchability, infertility, genetic deformities, and slower growth. That has been my experience. It is different, of course, if the parents of the birds to be bred are totally unrelated. That\'s why I should have qualified my statement by saying, \"in established strains.\"
Tailfeathers:
Thanks Mike. I\'m aware of all those things and the increased risk. Just wondering if I missed something.
Just for the record, I\'ve never bred Brother to Sister in the past but was just thinking about doing so on the #7\'s because of all the variations I\'m getting - of which some of them are for the good!
God Bless,
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