[mojocafa]

Is it acceptable to sell related birds as a trio?

I would have thought not which is why some adverts comment that they are unrelated.

It's just that I know of someone selling related birds and if they were unrelated I would have jumped at it but its seems a bit incestuous

What's your thoughts
Mojo

[shygirl]

i always presume a trio is related and try and get 2 sets from different breeders and swap the cockerals over. or resell one inferior trio as genuinely unrelated.

[doganjo]

Sorry, but I would expect a trio to consist of two hens and a cockerel from three different lines of the same breed.  I would have assumed a trio was for breeding.  If you breed a cockerel to his sister you are likely to double up on bad genes as well as good ones, and possible diseases. JMHO and possibly too simplistic for hens - I just would never do it in dogs.

[HesterF]

When I buy, I ask to be sure. In many cases, quite a few hens are in with the same cockerel so if you get a trio, chances are they're half siblings rather than full siblings. WIth ducks there can be two drakes in together as well so then the odds are even better. In some breeds, poultry is intentionally inbred to bring out certain features and often if it's very rare breed, it's hard to avoid anyway. There was an article a few months back in one of the smallholding or poultry magazines about the size of the gene pool for various poultry breeds and you could clearly see how interbred some were.

Anyhow, I'd say it wasn't ideal but it isn't uncommon. Most breeders just couldn't keep three different pens of each variant of the breeds they do in order to supply three completely unrelated birds (financially it wouldn't make sense and they'd no doubt end up with the wrong balance of numbers anyway). But you don't want to be repeating it generation after generation. So the best thing is to bring in your own diversity as Shygirl suggests. I'm hoping to breed West of England geese which are really hard to track down. I've got one pair that are related via one grandparent which is the best that breeder could do and I'm going to get a second, unrelated (to the first pair, and only distantly to each other) pair later this season. Then I can sell unrelated pairs myself but it's still tricky to keep juggling all the potential outcomes from their offspring - particularly as I'd like a trio of each ideally and it would be easiest if I could keep two of my own females and just swap them over. We'll see how that one goes....or if they ever manage to produce any fertile eggs which they didn't manage this year.

H

[Castle Farm]

No serious breeder would worry about the trio being related as long as they knew the breed/strain history.But not many serious breeders would buy in any new strain unless they line bred alongside the existing strain they already have.

Adding 'new blood' by bringing in a new cockerel (usually) will be adding a totally random selection of genes into that mating and if you have a well bred line you are starting again from scratch.

As for selling a trio that are related, pratically everyone involved at backyard level passes the birds off as a breeding group.

I would be very wary of anyone advertizing eggs or birds from 'unrealted' as stated above not many poultry keepers have the room for more than one strain of a peticular breed.

Your going to get problems after sibling mating to 3rd generation, but be aware that the birds you were told were 'unrelated' more than likely were siblings or part sibling.

[Mays]

I would expect pairs & trios to be related, but prefer father and daughters or mother and sons depending what I am after, I think most trios though are hatch companions, but that wouldn't worry me as when I have bought pairs and trios in the past it is usually because I am after a cockerel or hen rarely because I want to breed from that particular set, and its good to see both side of the sex from that particular line, of that makes sense 

[doganjo]

Ah I see now -  what you are talking about is line breeding as opposed to inbreeding.  So yes, I agree that line bred cockerel and two line bred hens with another line of genes included is probably ideal as a starter flock.  I line breed my dogs, I don't inbreed, and just occasionally I use an outcross.

[shygirl]

Your going to get problems after sibling mating to 3rd generation, but be aware that the birds you were told were 'unrelated' more than likely were siblings or part sibling.

i went to great lengths to buy unrelated breeding stock (travelled many many miles), even though i had 2 separate unrelated breeding flocks of purebreds(by swopping cockerals in the trios), i still couldnt offer genuinely unrelated birds as the different groups offspring were probably cousins to eachother.
 i think its buyer beware. personally id only believe the reputable serious breeders, and be prepared to wait for the birds you want to be bred and hatched.