Line breeding peafowl?

squeak1 · **Posted:** Thu Apr 30, 2009 9:16 am

Hi Everyone

Just a question on line breeding and why it is so important in peafowl to get unrelated birds to breed from.

You can breed chooks and guinea fowl father over daughter and son over mother to create different colours and fix faults and so on with out any real harm done ....

So my question is why can't you do this with peafowl ?

Does any one do this or has tried this ?

what was the results ?

did it cause any complications with your chicks ?

Did it affect the heath of the offspring ?

Just throwing this out there to see what others have tried and done ....

the way i look at it if you can do it with other chooks and guinea fowl i can't see that peafowl being much different .

all comments welcome from peafowl breeders please ....

cheers squeak1

Pam Jackass · **Joined:** Sat Jun 18, 2005 7:21 pm **Posts:** 284

Hi Squeak1. My thoughts on this are that because often sellers sell a bro and a sister together and you don't know how far back the inbreeding has gone it is a good idea not to breed them together. I go so far as offering to swap a male to people who have bought like this with no money changing hands. Also there are fewer peacocks around to select from so the gene pool is smaller. My policy is to sell mixed sexes as unrelated as possible. However this year I had 2 accidents. 1. I sold a white hen forgetting to tell the buyer that she was a result of an accidental mating between father and daughter. I had swapped them with another person who wanted new blood as she realised that it wasn't good to keep inbreeding. When I realised I informed the buyer immediately. As he bought unrelated stock to breed with her there shouldn't be a problem and also it wasn't white to white which would up the chances of something being wrong. He is an experienced bird person so he should be able to compensate by not inbreeding with her in future. 2. I had an unexpected mating between a 2 year old bro and sister who were penned together prior to selling. I put the eggs under a broody chook and to my surprise they all hatched. 2 died as chickens but as it was so cold in Dec and I had quite a few losses I have no way of knowing whether this was because they were inbred or not. I do know though that their parents were not related and I will be making sure that there is no way they are sold with related birds. I think it is important to try your best not to inbreed.

Having said that, I have a very unusual dark colouring in a 3 year old clutch which was inherited from their father, now dead. The mother and father were not even vaguely related, as far back as anyone could go. I am going to lock up bro and sister together this year to see what happens and to see if I can get it darker and more black. He is quite dark and has dark colour patches and also black thighs. I will also be locking him up with another hen unrelated to compare. His bro has the dark colour too but as he is pied it is overlaid with white. One thing not to do is breed white related together. See PA's great article on whites. Remember that as peas lay fewer eggs etc it is hard to get definitive statistics on inbreeding. Hope this helps. I am hoping PA answers all this for you as they will know much more. Cheers, Pam

Peacocks Australia · **Joined:** Wed Jan 02, 2002 9:14 am **Posts:** 310755

squeak1 wrote:

Hi Everyone

Just a question on line breeding and why it is so important in peafowl to get unrelated birds to breed from.
Not sure if someone has told you this or if you read it, but it's not that important as long as you don't breed a second generations from the one line.

You can breed chooks and guinea fowl father over daughter and son over mother to create different colours and fix faults and so on with out any real harm done ....

So my question is why can't you do this with peafowl ?
You can & we do.

Does any one do this or has tried this ?
We do not breed brother & sister together due to 100% genetic clash (Gene percentages) this can lead to significant immune reduction and bone density. We have well established lines (over 17 years ish) using line breeding. Our breeding program consists of the closest pairing Father-Daughter and Mother-Son pairings. Progeny are then paired to 25-50% Gene percentage related. Line breeding is important when developing new Mutations or locking in ideal traits, just remember when using an out cross to make sure it has the traits you need or want to introduce and establish. We do not recommend line breeding for the novice as a basic knowledge and understanding of Peafowl Geno and possible fit falls are a minimum.

What was the results ?
New Mutations are the result of some breeding programs, but it takes many, many years to see results, IF at all.
did it cause any complications with your chicks ?

Did it affect the heath of the offspring ?
Line breeding of White peafowl is NOT ideal and generally not recommended simply because they are a “Flawed” mutation and although we do, it’s not something we do each season. As we know the history and have intimate knowledge of our stock we can be confident in our pairings.
Just throwing this out there to see what others have tried and done ....

the way i look at it if you can do it with other chooks and guinea fowl i can't see that peafowl being much different .

all comments welcome from peafowl breeders please ....

cheers squeak1

We will put together an Article on "Line Breeding" for those who are interested.

Thanks
P.A :-D

squeak1 · **Posted:** Sat May 02, 2009 9:07 pm

Thanks for the replies Pam and P.A an article on line breeding would be interesting to read and help understand how it all works .

I wasn't thinking on doin any line breeding but everyone you talk to always saidto get unrelated birds to breed with and i just wondered if you could breed them close and not have any problems .

cheers squeak 1

Peacocks Australia · **Joined:** Wed Jan 02, 2002 9:14 am **Posts:** 310755

squeak1 wrote:

Thanks for the replies Pam and P.A an article on line breeding would be interesting to read and help understand how it all works .

I wasn't thinking on doin any line breeding but everyone you talk to always saidto get unrelated birds to breed with and i just wondered if you could breed them close and not have any problems .

cheers squeak 1

Your welcome, Line breeding Peafowl is not a common practice by the majority of peafowl keepers so the advice maybe a STD reply.

Thanks
P.A :-D

Peafowl Lover · **Joined:** Sun Jun 14, 2009 2:04 pm **Posts:** 6

Interesting reading, I won't be trying it any time soon but its good to know

Peafowl Unlimited · **Posted:** Thu Jun 18, 2009 12:35 pm

Strong colors are resulting in line breeding. Trait locking is also of benifit in positive traits. Many of the 20 colour and feather colour peafowl we have are line or have at one time in the past

Peafowl Unlimited

Peacocks Australia · **Joined:** Wed Jan 02, 2002 9:14 am **Posts:** 310755

Peafowl Unlimited wrote:

Strong colors are resulting in line breeding. Trait locking is also of benifit in positive traits. Many of the 20 colour and feather colour peafowl we have are line or have at one time in the past

Peafowl Unlimited

Hi Peafowl Unlimited, Welcome to A.P.F You are spot on, it's the only way to lock in Geno Traits

Thanks
P.A :-D

squeak1 · **Posted:** Mon Jun 22, 2009 6:40 pm

Hi P.A

Breeding new colours in peafowl would be the same theory as creating new colours in poultry wouldn't it.

Nowing your dominant colours and your recessive colours and how you get this if you put it to that...

How close do you guys go to lock in genes Father x daughter, Mother x son, brother x sister or is that to close?

cheers squeak1

Peacocks Australia · **Joined:** Wed Jan 02, 2002 9:14 am **Posts:** 310755

Hi squeak1, we breed Mother-Son, Father-Daughter with new Mutations under development.

Thanks
P.A :-D

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