is it ok for roosters to breed w/their own offspring?

[bj taylor]

i'm embarrassed to ask this question, but i've haunted the forum to no avail trying to figure it out. i know w/other animals this kind of inbreeding is not good. does this apply to chickens?

 

[Chicken Master1]

Im not sure about chickens but i tried with ducks and most of them were malformed.

 

[cluckcluckluke]

Not A Good Idea!
Repeat
Not A Good Idea!

 

[Den in Penn]

Many breeders do just such. Mosty with parent offsping matings. You begin to lose genetic diversity but you also reinforce desirable traits. If you have good stock the parent offspring matings can go on for many generations. Just as with all breeding programs you have to watch for bad traits.

 

[bj taylor]

well with a home flock how do you prevent this unless you get rid of the rooster after each hatching?

 

[Den in Penn]

Separation is the only way. Either you start a second flock that has only his pullets that never see him or his sons or change the rooster. With small flocks eventually you have to bring in new blood anyway you go.

 

[bj taylor]

thank you den; i couldn't seem to get my head around it. i believe i do have good stock - so i should be fine. i certainly understand that i will be bringing in new stock eventually anyway. again, thanks

 

[roostersandhens]

Not A Good Idea!
Repeat
Not A Good Idea!

I never even thought about the qeustion that this thread is all about! Now I know it is NOT A GOOD IDEA!

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

It is actually perfectly fine to breed daughters back to their father, as long as you bring in new blood eventually. It's an extremely common breeding technique for poultry. Here's a long but detailed discussion of various breeding techniques. Despite what ChickenMaster and CluckCluckLuke have said, you aren't going to have malformed offspring. http://www.the-coop.org/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=28027

Here's a photo of my rooster Bruce with one of his daughters.



If breeders didn't stay within their same line, they'd have a very difficult time fixing certain traits in their stock. Your current hens were probably inbred in some way in their background.

 

[cluckcluckluke]

I know they won't be deformed but
1) I just don't like the idea and
2) EVERY chicken is inbred these days, so it is really hard to get pure stock which is really annoying, also if your flock are inbred then they are more suitable to diseases.