I agree with both statements. I think Troiano knows his stuff. Lots of points he makes (especially about mistakes he’s learned from) I can relate to and say “yep, he must know what’s he’s talking about, because I’ve experienced X, Y, and Z just like he’s saying.” For example, he talks about breeding for vigor first and uses examples where he set lines using favored roosters only to find out too late the favored roosters were genetically weak to certain diseases. Been there done that. I infused weakness to Marek’s in my flock doing that very thing and had to go back to the genetic drawing board to beat it. Also, he sometimes brings on an old mentor from South Africa that raised gamefowl semi-feral in wild South Africa just as my family did in the Florida backwoods, showing the universality of the experience across time and cultures.
On the other hand, it is grating to have to listen through the advertisements. If you’re patient he usually drops the main tidbits but its not efficient. I would otherwise have joined his “breeder’s academy” but when I priced it I thought it was too high. If he’d cut the price I’d say it may be worth it. He’s probably pricing himself out of a large market share.
