BUYING STUD STOCK

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 12, 13 July 1935, Page 28

BUYING STUD STOCK

The writer has always, maintained that we have in our country as good utility-fowls as are obtainable anywhere. While always ready to admit that imported stock of good quality is invaluable-as a source of fresh blood, there appears plenty of evidence that buyers of stud stock should exhaust i all local sources before writing over- ' seas' for quotations. There is a mistaken idea that because a fowl is imported it must be a good one, and a glaring example of poor value for money spent was experienced by a breeder just recently. He imported a cockerel from Australia at a cost of five guineas. On arrival the cockerel was found to have .twisted flights, a disqualifying point in all breeding stock. To introduce such a fault into a.good utility strain would be fatal, and no doubt the breeder concerned will have more to say on this matter.

Many disappointments result through the buyer not being prepared to pay a reasonable price for a good bird, and it must.be realised that stud valuesin most other countries are much higher than they are here. Ten guineas is not considered a high price for a really good cockerel in Australia, yet if local breeders ask as much as two guineas, buyer's expect something, extra special. Again dissatisfaction will result if the buyer does not inform the seller exactly what he requires. Whenever buying new blood it is advisable to visit the. breeders concerned and select the bird to be purchased onesejf. If the buyer is a novice, then he must place his faith in the breeder he deals with, or else ask a third party to select his stock for him. The reputable breeder, if t asked to select stock on account of a buyer, will in- | variably do his best to give complete satisfaction. An instance of complaint Which was quite absurd arose recently. A buyer wrote for some hatching eggs of "high egg-producing Black Orpingtons." A good setting was sent him, but some eighteen months later he wrote and complained that none of the resulting pullets had shown any signs of going broody, and stated that he had wanted them specially for this purpose. Now, if.'high egg-produc-tion is to be obtained, the broody element must be entirely bred out of a utility strain and this had been done in this particular blood line. Imagine the surprise of the seller at this complaint! ■ . . .

General opinion is that fresh blood should be introduced at least every three years; this, in spite of the fact that there are some first-rate breeders who have not introduced any outside blood for as long as fifteen years. Sometimes keen disappointment results from the first' outcross between two good blood lines, but if, the blood lines are preserved by mating back to the two original lines, good results invariably occur. In order to protect a known good line, only one-half fresh blood should be.:in.trQduced. . .To. do this first mate a female of the new blood to the best male of the strain being worked. Select a good cockerel from this mating to mate to a.pen of the old blood and excellent results .should, be obtained, The Tpcbgeriy

I from this last mating will contain only one-quarter of the new blood, giving the old blood every opportunity to dominate. Many leading breeders never introduce any fresh blood until they have bred it pure for at least two generations themselves, and this is undoubtedly the best system. Whenever any line or in-breeding programme is entertained due allowance for loss of constitutional vigour must be made. Of course, by selection one can actually in-breed for better vigour, but as a rule the mating of relations tends to lower vitality. Management is closely correlated to breeding practice and without sound management on free range conditions, no breeding programme will be fully successful.