The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: docsal on September 29, 2017, 09:24:05 am
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Does anyone know if trait inheritance can be predicted down gender lines? Sorry if it's a stupid question - I am a novice. I was just wondering if males and females pass on different traits or if it's purely random.....
Next year I want to try breeding birds for meat. I have Marans and Indian Game in mind. The marans are nice heavy birds which lay great eggs. The IGs have good breast size but lay tiny eggs. If I was to keep an IG cockrel to cross with a maran, would the resulting progeny have better breast formation than the maran, or lay smaller eggs????
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You would get a range of traits in the offspring, rather than something predictable. Generally the next generation would fall between the two parents. You can then select from the best individuals and do a backcross to work towards the birds you are after.
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You may get swifter results from using one utility breed like the Dorking or Sussex rather than a cross. Predictable growth rate and conformation and good layers of decent-sized eggs.