Double Mating

[Holiday Hatch]

Hello fellow club members.  Recently there were a few posts about double mating.  Could someone please tell me what is meant by the term Double Mating?  Thank you - Linda

[Mike Gilbert]

 It means you make one type of mating, usually selected by coloring attributes, for exhibition quality males, and a different type of mating for exhibition females of the same variety.   While color would be the primary reason for doing so, it could also be done for certain type attributes.    The multicolored varieties would be the most logical candidates.   As one example, wheaten or blue wheaten males with hackle striping might produce better colored females than males without the hackle striping.   It sort of depends on the line you are working with as to whether double mating is actually needed or not.  I suspect most of us don't bother.

[DeWayne Edgin]

Mike i have a Buff rooster that is really deep in orange color and one that is no were near as dark orange as the other one. I used the darker rooster and kept the darker orange chicks to breed from to get the darker color. Is that what you are talking about by double mating?

[Mike Gilbert]

It is entirely possible to get well colored buffs of both genders from a single mating method.   But if your females run too light in color, an orange colored male could help produce better ones.   I think most breeders and exhibitors prefer a golden buff over the orange shades however.  Evenness of coloring throughout the entire bird is important in buff, and that would be a higher priority than the exact shade.

[Max]

Hello fellow club members.  Recently there were a few posts about double mating.  Could someone please tell me what is meant by the term Double Mating?  Thank you - Linda

Here is an exerpt from an article in Fancy Fowl magazine (July 2009) by Grant Brereton that explains a little about double mating. Thanks John for making it uploadable...

[Don]

The buffs that I've seen thus far, the females are a lighter dull color and the males a lustrous golden orangish color.  They are Very different male to female.  But there may be lines available that produce different results like Mike said.  If the buff is related to wheaten, then should it be a surprise that the male and female come in different colors/shades?

Some of the black colored birds with yellow legs (not AMs) are a simple example of a double mating application.  The females seem to carry more melanizers and it's not often you get good colored birds from one mating.  You can choose to breed a female or male line or double mate to have show birds of both sexes, but you have to carry twice as many birds in your breeding pens.

Ex.   Lighter Black males with white undercover and clean yellow legs will help produce good black body color with yellow legged females.  But the males produced from this mating are going to be too light in undercolor and possibly white feathers and will not be show birds.

Dark legged females with "right colored" males produce good dark colored males but most often the resulting females will have black legs, very little yellow maybe only on the bottom of the foot pads.

Some breeders will say that the standard needs to be modified to allow single mating.  Some might say that over time you can attain the perfect color in both - nirvana.

[John]

Some breeders will say that the standard needs to be modified to allow single mating.

Exactly where I'm at.  The Standard describes each variety, yet double mating produces two different varieties to fit the bill.
I hear a lot these days about not sacrificing the egg laying and meat properties of a breed while still breeding toward the Standard.  I would opt for the practical bird properties over the show winner characteristics as a primary breeding goal and double breeding for show just doesn't seem practical or natural in my view.
If a multicolored variety doesn't work out then I have no problem with dropping it from the Standard.  I can live with one variety of Ameraucana if it got down to only one that has the correct dual purpose properties and fits the Standard.  LF blacks are there! 
I'm not into the SPPA or ALBC.  If a breed or variety doesn't make the cut, so be it.  There will still be chickens 100 years from now to provide people with eggs and meat.

[Mike Gilbert]

Hello fellow club members.  Recently there were a few posts about double mating.  Could someone please tell me what is meant by the term Double Mating?  Thank you - Linda

Here is an exerpt from an article in Fancy Fowl magazine (July 2009) by Grant Brereton that explains a little about double mating. Thanks John for making it uploadable...

Grant will be in North Carolina on March 14th to give a poultry genetics seminar.  Tuition is $99 if pre-registered or $129 at the door - if seats are available.   The article gives a good example of double mating, but don't read too much into it, as the partridge color we breed here in the U.S. is different than the partridge bred in the U.K.     Every partridge Wyandotte bantam breeder I have talked to say they get exhibition males and females from single mating.  I breed Partridge Chantecler bantams, so can confirm they are correct.   

[Holiday Hatch]

Thank you all for the replies and detailed discussion.  It makes sense now and I would never have figured it out without some explanation.  Linda

[Max]

Grant will be in North Carolina on March 14th to give a poultry genetics seminar.

Mike, the last time I emailed Jerry Foley he said that Grant was also trying to have this seminar in Lucasville next October... Have you heard anything about it?

double breeding for show just doesn't seem practical or natural in my view.

I agree with you John. I really like the Blue Wheaten variety but the more I have thought about double mating them the less interested I've become in doing it. It sounds like a lot more work than I am ready for.

[Mike Gilbert]

  Max, I don't know anything about Lucasville, but I know at one time they were considering the Ohio National.   I don't think the latter would have worked out very well because of all the meetings that will be held there already, and this is an 8-hour seminar.   If you or anyone else wants more info about the North Carolina event let me know and I'll send an email.    Jim Adkins is coordinating the event.