RB&R
29 posts
Aug 01, 2006
9:26 AM
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if you were going to select a hen as a breeder, you are select the character of the bird or depth and quality. i been to alot of people house, i ask them this same question, many of them belive that what she can do in the air, the siblings will turn out to be the same. i don't know whether this was a mistake people make or not. So, if you were going to select a hen as a breeder? what characteristic are you looking for??? as in mind everyone was looking for a hen that can produce high percentage of good sibling.
Andrew
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nicksiders
747 posts
Aug 01, 2006
11:08 AM
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very difficult question to answer. There are the tangable stuff like performance and form (type), but there is another ingrediant that I can't really describe and that is character. I know what I am looking for, but I really can't describe it in terms that can be understood well enough to be used as a guide or tool. I even don't totally understand what I am seeing in a bird that I precieve has that "character" value. And, what makes it even more difficult to explain is that I am not always right on my first decision(s).
I like putting birds together that have similar performance traits with little concern about what they look like on the perch............but, the decision trigger still rests on that "character" button. Some of my best performers I do not breed because they lack the character I am looking for.
Keep in mind I feel I have the right to mismanage my loft all I want to(LOL). Also keep in mind I don't believe everything I say, think, or do(LOL).
I hope you understand what I am saying; if you do please tell me so I too can understand what I am saying.
Nick
This was my answer to an earlier thread. You have two areas to consider: Objective and subjective.
I pointed out that there are times I do not stock my best performer because the bird is lacking that character issue that is so hard to define. If I could ever define it into written words it would be long and probably not understandable to anyone standing outside of my mind.
Now I know that I have made myself clear as mud, but often times decisions made are not based on issues that are black and white issues. Sometimes decisions have to be pulled out of the mirky gray areas that only YOUR mind can filter.
Ah, good luck.
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Snicker Rollers
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bman
21 posts
Aug 01, 2006
11:38 AM
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I think what Nick is trying to say is "stock sense" some have it some don't or have it in varying degrees.It doesn't matter if its pigeons or hamsters if you truly know your stock some decisions can't be explained but they invariable work.Animal husbandry can't be boiled down to statistics,pedigrees or mathmatics it is more intuition and knowledge of your stock."JUST MY OPINION"
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Ron
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MCCORMICKLOFTS
667 posts
Aug 01, 2006
11:51 AM
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If I am going to stock any bird, doesn't matter which sex it is, it has to be sound of mind first and foremost. Nothing else matters beyond that point because if the bird isn't sound in mind (a level of character) then all the others things don't even exist. I don't care how deep they roll, they just gotta be a non-problem bird with heart, control, speed and frequency.
There is no magic bullet. You follow your instincts and mate up pairs and hope for the best. Dissect what the pairs produce and move forward.
Brian.
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J_Star
555 posts
Aug 01, 2006
12:20 PM
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When it comes to stock birds, it is the dominant bird that will pass most of the dominant gene. Yes, the genes for the offspring are cut in half between the cock and the hen and hopefully the dominant bird will pass the superior genes that we are looking for in performance. In my family of birds, which is tightly inbred, look the same on the perch, size and character for the most part. So, the cock is the true driver for me, which I can put them on several hens within the same family and expect similar results from the offsprings. It is the genes from the cock that I am after for the most part.
When fancier put together breeder pairs, they try to match the quality to double up on it to maximize the probability of those genes in the youngsters. Always try to avoid pairing up birds together that have the same faults. Remember that the genetic make up of the youngsters are an aggregate make up of their ancestry. That is why sometimes you get youngsters all over the board in performance from a certain pair that were excellent in the air while you might get the majority of excellent performer youngsters from another pair with the same quality of the other breeder pair. But if you have a family that has similar genetic makeup and exhibit great performance, no matter how you breed them you will get similar offspring with great certainty to be way above average in most cases.
If your hen is being a foundation hen, then that is a whole different story in regard of the way to go about breeding her.
Jay
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katyroller
42 posts
Aug 05, 2006
9:44 PM
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Like most of the other guys have said, this is a hard question to answer. I always look at the performance first but also look at background, type and overall kitbox character. I like a hen that is calm and shows that she is intelligent and easy to work with. I breed open loft so I don't need flighty hens that are going to break eggs and stomp all over their youngsters. I have a few hens that will give you a beating if you bother them on the nest but my best hens are those that refuse to leave the nest and just seem to tolerate me. If the performance is there, the rest is usually gut feeling for me.
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RB&R
30 posts
Aug 06, 2006
2:37 PM
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sometime the best bird doesn't mean that u can produce the best rollers. if that is true, everyone in the hobby don't need to worry about it. and sometime a bird that did not have the performance, they can produce the best offspring, by looking back to her background and mate to something that close to her.
so, birds that can produce high percentage of good rollers are hard to come by. well, just my opinion.
Andrew
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