Gotcha. This I can understand. Just have to harden up to the 50% possible hatch rates. What I don't understand is why its desireable (sp?) to breed for a trait that kills 25-50% of off-spring?
We are breeding to a standard like the APA Standard or the ABA Standard. These are the standard for poultry breeding. If you were to be raising mini horses would you try to get them as tall as they could be? No, just like Japanese Bantams. The standard calls for short legs and defines what a short leg is. You can breed them for what ever you like, just realize that if you take them to a show ( more than a county fair) where there are other good breeders your bird may not place at all and you may get embarrassed .
Terry