WANNABE BREEDER OR TRUE BREEDER Which one are you? By Kenny Troiano Many claim to be breeders, but don’t know the first thing about breeding: Its funny, but everybody who raises fowl believes they are true breeders. The truth is, only a small percentage of those who breed fowl know what they are doing. To make matters worse that percentage drops considerably when you include Master Breeders. With such a discrepancy as to who the real breeders are, there is no wonder we have confusion within our ranks. We begin with the Master Breeders: These breeders are dedicated to the craft of perpetuating great fowl. They put all their time and effort into learning everything possible about breeding (including genetics), health care and disease prevention, and nutrition (including feedstuffs and supplements), and good farm management practices. They apply what have learned to achieve specific results, striving ever closer towards perfection with every breeding. It is because of this devotion to perfection that they have proven their worth and achieved a definite level of authority amongst their peers. These breeders are important because they not only maintain their chosen breeds, but they progress the breeds for future generations, and they show others how to do the same. These breeders are known as the experts in our field, and account for less than 1% of all breeders. Then we have the apprentices. These breeders are important because of their willingness to learn what it takes to breed and raise great fowl. Some read books, while others search for good mentors. These are the beginners, or Amateurs Breeders in our field, and account for about 14% of all the breeders. And the rest, I like to call them the “85%er’s”: It’s interesting, but once you get past the Master Breeder and Amateur Breeder status, the quality of breeder drops considerably. This is a bit unsettling, for the fact that the majority of all breeders don’t know what they are doing. In fact, these are individuals who know nothing about breeding, but think they are breeders. They neither read nor search out good mentors. Instead they follow their friends, who in most cases, depend on “old wives tales” and “superstitions,” and in many cases, undisciplined speculation. These individual account for about 65% of all breeders. Don’t get me wrong, some of the best breeders are speculators to some extent, however, there is a big difference between someone who operates through guesswork and someone who uses well thought-out theory’s based on scientific knowledge and proven breeding principles. One has no foundation or system to follow, while the other is methodical and systematic. One operates by chance or trial and error, while the other is guided by science. The other 20% or so, that produce fowl each year, are those who do it unintentionally, or by accident. These breeders contribute to the breed, but not in a beneficial way. The fowl they produce could trickle into our established bloodlines and by doing so they introduce traits that don’t belong. Although they only account for 20% of all breeders, and only 1% of the fowl they produce ever make it into the mainstream, they could have a devastating influence on the breed as a whole. I admit that the percentage is low, however, all it takes is the introduction of one bad trait to ruin a strain. It is important for every breeder to know the ancestry of every bird they breed, especially if the birds come from unknown sources. I would place the lower 85%, who breed and perpetuate fowl, into four separate categories. I refer to these breeders as – “the ignorant breeder,” “the neglectful breeder,” “the mixer,” and “the accidental breeder.” Let’s discuss them now: The first type is what I call “the ignorant breeder.” They will select and breed a cock to a hen, but will not take the time to learn the basics, such as genetics, breeding methods and record keeping. They don’t understand the breed or their structure and makeup, so they don’t know which traits are important and which traits should be culled. They have a general idea of the proper conformation of body and color of plumage, but they are unaware of the defects that are common with that breed. In short, they have no idea how to improve and maintain the breed. These breeders tend to move towards the crossbreeding category because they don’t get the desired results and become discouraged with the status quo. The second type is what I call “the neglectful breeder.” They will concentrate their effort on a particular trait, but will neglect traits that are extremely important. Or they will select a bird, that overall looks great, but expresses a serous defect. They select traits, with the hope of improving the family or strain, but they don’t cull traits that are harmful to the future of the family or strain. The third type, I call “the mixer.” These breeders use crossbreeding as their main method of breeding. They resist any and all methods used to create, improve, and maintain strains. They gravitate towards the quick and easy method for producing fowl. If you were to ask them what they thought of creating and maintaining pure lines or families, they would tell you there is no such thing as pure. These breeders prefer quantity above quality. You will also find that these breeders tend to drift towards superstitions and “old wives tales.” Breeders such as these are easy to identify by the number of breeds or strains that they raise. I would stay clear of anybody that breeds and raises more than three strains. Peddlers fall into this category. The fourth type is “the accidental breeder.” These individuals raise fowl, but for the joy of having some birds around the house. They don’t have any aspirations to maintain a strain or to produce offspring. However, the offspring that are produced, due to a lack of flock management practices, are accidental. The fowl these individuals produce can have devastating effects on the breed, because they find their way into the system (other breeders bloodlines), but are not standard bred.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 18:41:31 +0000
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