Is it OK for Chickens to Inbreed?

[jlgoinggreen]

I am very new to breeding chickens, but it has now become an addiction. I started with a flock of laying hens to provide eggs for our homesteading family, but well.......

Now I have my first rooster who I bought with his wife/sister. He has also been in with some of my hens. I have an incubator full of their eggs. Is it OK that he bred with his sister? Would it be OK if in the future he breeds with his daughters or do I need to get a new rooster? I also bought a batch of eggs of a different breed that are also in my incubators and I'm hoping for roosters to continue with my madness. My question is, is it OK to inbreed?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Inbreeding is how the different chicken breeds were developed. It is how champion show birds are developed. It's not as bad as you might think. Some people will say don't breed brothers to sisters but it is OK to breed fathers to daughters. If you go through the genetics, there is no difference in matching recessives doing either.

When you inbreed you decrease genetic diversity and give recessive genes a chance to express themselves. As long as you are not seeing any traits you do not want, it is not a big problem, but it is a good idea to bring in some fresh blood every few years anyway because of the genetic diversity issue. Of course, when you introduce new blood, you don't know what traits you might be introducing. Not all bad traits are immediately obvious. Physical deformity is usually not all that hard to spot, but lower fertility or lower egg production can happen, for example. As long as you select your breeding stock with the traits you want in mind and cull the ones you don't want to breed, you should be OK for a few generations. Cull does not mean kill. In this case, it means to not hatch chicks from the ones you don't want to breed.

 

[Bantimna]

Ridgerunner
Answered your qeustion

 

[jlgoinggreen]

Yay!

I was so worried I was doing something wrong. Thank you.

 

[MakNat]

I've had the same Roo for 4 years and all his babies a beautiful. Even his daughters babies!!

 

[A1 Steak Sauce]

Quote:
^This^

 

[Keri78]

jlgoinggreen!!! Love the "wife/sister" analagy!!!

Leave it to a homeschool Mama for good wording!!!

From one "Homeschool Mama" to another ...thanks! for the great question ...I've often wondered the same thing! Funny we share in the same addictions!!!! Kids, homeschooling, chickens!!!!

Talk Soon, Keri

 

[jlgoinggreen]

LOL Keri78. Yes.... I've learned that homeschooling, like chicken raising is an art sometimes. LOL

 

[elmo]

Do you know anything about the genetic diversity of the breeding pair you are starting with? You know they are siblings, but do you know whether the parents of these birds were also related?

Inbreeding can cause problems when it is continued repeatedly over many generations, particularly if the stock isn't good to begin with. Problems like poor hatches, chicks that fail to thrive, etc. can be symptoms of not enough genetic diversity.

Having said that, I have two hens sitting on eggs right now fathered by their half sibling. But the parents of all of these birds were completely unrelated (to the point, even, of being different breeds of chickens!). So I think I'm pretty safe on the genetic diversity grounds.

 

[Akane]

Define ok... Can it cause problems? yes. Will it cause problems? Probably not for at least several generations depending how inbred the birds you start with are. If you start with good birds and cull aggressively it can also be the way to create better lines or new breeds/colors. Does that make it ok? Entirely depends on what you consider ok. Some are highly against inbreeding anything for any generation. Some are quite for it when done properly. Some just plain don't care even if it isn't done with any plan, caution, or culling of animals with genetic issues.