The word ‘gene’ is enough to put many people off when it comes to poultry articles. However, let me assure you, I don’t intend to get technical; there will be no complex looking scientific symbols in this article for poultrykeeper – just the basics. The aim is for it to …
I have read with great interest the breeding articles by Stan Simister (Creating a Strain), Derek Alsop’s response and more recently, Robin Ramus’ Federation Interview in Fancy Fowl Magazine UK. I found their advice to be very wise and coming from a wealth of experience in poultry. The common theme …
This month, I am extremely pleased to welcome Jeremy Hobson to our blog. Jeremy is the author of numerous poultry books and magazine articles about poultry keeping which have taught me so much over the years.
Although Jeremy may be no spring chicken himself, (Jeremy’s words not mine…!) here he suggests some ways of preparing for and ensuring healthy, early, chicks from your breeding stock.
When assessing your rearing stock and noticing an obvious fault, it can be very disheartening. An otherwise-fine specimen is ruined for show and breeding. However, If the fault in question is observable in the bird’s parents or grandparents, perhaps you only have yourself to blame? We would all breed from near-perfect …
Whether you are an experienced poultry breeder or relatively new to the hobby, there are some common factors which have to be learnt in order to improve your stock. The principle factor in breeding is the ‘art of selection.’ This basically means acquiring the knowledge to understand what is and what …
Following on from Making your Own Line of birds, Laurence Beeken looks at how to fix specific traits into your line, and how to introduce fresh blood when necessary. So you’ve selected your birds and your first season has gone well, and now you’re ready to look to the future …
If you are familiar with showing and breeding then you will almost certainly recognise the reference to a ‘line’ or a ‘strain’ and this becomes immediately obvious when you start to look at show winners. A particular exhibitor will have a row of birds all appearing exactly the same, and in …
Breeding chickens is of course a fairly straight forward process, you put a good cockerel in with some hens and providing both are fit and healthy and your cockerel is fertile, he will mate with the hens regularly and before you know it, you have fertile eggs.
If you are considering expanding the size of your flock, then one of the most rewarding ways to do this is by using a cockerel to provide you with fertile eggs from your own hens so that you can incubate and hatch your own.
