MATING ACCORDING TO I.K. FELCH 'POULTRY CULTURE' THE SIRE (By Glenda Heywood) 

In this concept, Mr Felch goes into detail on the Sire (male) line. 

The sire should have a sound body, perfect color, and symmetry (that form of structure produced by the harmonies blending of perfectly formed parts as desired by the Standard).  He should be mild and courteous to the dames (females) with procreative vigor, courageous even pugnacious (inclined to fighting) in the defense of his harem, should have ancestral breeding and perfect breeding, such males, coming from a line of like sires, invariably stamp their progeny in the likeness of their own personality.  Experience teaches that the sire, in his line, has greater infuence in determining the color and form of structure than the dames. 

The fact that chickens generally favor the grandsire makes it all-important than the male line should not be broken and that the sire should be typical in symmetry (having form on both sides the same) and color.  After much discussion to the use of good colored males stated "sports are void of good color." 

By causes which cannot be explained, the function of color fails to furnish its quota to the chickens organism, therefore the chickens must be considered a new type, and lost to the breed, for they cannot be expected to transmit a color which they never inherited.  In view of the facts, we say all males of faded light color in plumage should be killed for poultry (table use).  In no case should they be used as breeders, for they are never good producers of males, and although they may for a season beget good females, the females in turn will revert in their breeding to their faulty sire's color.  Why try to utilize these males and expect them to perform a wok that is impossible. 

They cannot be expected to produce color when they utterly fail in that quality.  Why do these breeders forget these facts.  "That every seed should bring forth after its kind".  That the sire in his line has the offspring and that there is a loss in color by breeding.  Nine thnths of all the blunders in mating for breeding, occur in color. 

Also he states that good color not only requires the best mating blood, but is also dependent upon the health of the parent birds while breeding. 

A corresponding number of all the breeders, in mating their stock, fail to consider that color is the special work of the sire. 

Good and generous food help most materially, for feathers, like grass grows under favorable conditions.  Poor food and poor plumage starves alike with the body.  When one buys good stock, it will need good food to produce like fine stock. 

The color of the hackle of the sire is to be considered, as to its influence and controls the hackles of his sons for the hackle is merely the plumage of the male and beauty of his sex.  While the color of his neck before putting on his garb, will determine his breeding strength in the color of his pullets. 

A male that grows up black in neck, to be replaced or covered by a whie hackle, having a yellow beak void of a black stripe, will as a rule, beget pullets dark and many quite black and smutty in the neck, and male chicks white in the hackle, will generally beget both sexes too dark if anything like standard females are mated to him.  But such males are very valuable in restoring the progeny of hens that are light in color of neck, wings and tails; thus utilizing hens that must otherwise go to the butcher block. 

One may ask why mating the very dark sires to light females, and condemn matings made vice versa.  In answer (1. the tendency is always to breed lighter in color, and the sire fails in this respect (2. the sire, in his line, has the greatest control of the color of the offspring (3. chickens favor more strongly the grandsire (4. a white-necked sire will beget smutty necked females, which in turn revert to their pale sire, and if like sire be mated to the rule of all white undercolor, the same having been the breeding of the females, they will produce progeny all pale and faulty in color.  Experience teaches that cockerels with dark hackles, bluish undercolor and black wing flights and tail are the progeny of perfect or dark plumaged sires.  So universally tue is this that it may be accepted as a rule. 

The storngest argument in favor of the dark sire and rejection of the pale one is experience, says it is best.  Many find fault with the Standard, saying that to mate specimens by it is to make a failure in breeding.  The fault is not so much in the Standard, as in our failure to consider the difference in the plumage of the sexes when we apply the Standard. 

Size in the sire is of little importance, if he be fully up to medium weight of his race.  An overgrown sire is useless as a breeder.  The one just above the average, vigorous, healthy, will beget 100 chicks weighing more pounds than will the overgrown male of the same breed. 

Size and weight should be considered in the light of the general average.  The best sire is the one that shows the least difference in the weight of the individuals of his progeny.  In small breeds we may with safety choose our sires above the average weight for it is a singular fact that in the largest specimens of the Asiatic and the smallest specimens of the smaller breeds will be found the most faulty birds. 

He states that most of the larger specimens wins.  Soon it was found that the most prolific breeders were not the ones of excessive weight.  That birds with long loose plumage only appeared excessive in weight.  Also the long loose plumaged birds did not produce good egg layers.  The meat birds of blocky, solid, close feathered, smooth surface plumaged birds.  So came the larger Asiatic breeds. 

The breeders looked for a strain of good egg layers, early layers.  From such the breeding sires.  It is important that as 1/2 of the breeding pen, a good sire be all the forgoing and be from a prolific dam increases his worth 3 fold.  Thus, one needs to keep a good pedigree (record) of birds lineage.  This assures buyers one has not subjected his strain to mongrel crosses.  One needs to select sires in keeping with their physical development and color. 

  Hits since January 1, 2001
FastCounter by LinkExchange