Adventurous Breeders

I think what the fancy needs is more adventurous breeders. I know it takes a while to get successful at caring for a certain breed, (I would say 7 to 10 years) but the fancy needs people who get dedicated to certain breeds and stick to them. I would define a successful breeder as one who has left a positive impact on what he has touched and in order to do that you need to be dedicated. To be dedicated I would say, you should set some goals and also set some guidelines to reach those goals. If you aim at nothing you will hit it every time. What is a reachable goal? I want to win Best Single Comb Clean Legged at a show in 5 years with a Black Tailed White Japanese. How would you begin to reach that goal?

1.Get rid of all of the junk chickens you have that are taking up needed space.

2.Focus on getting the best breeding stock you can afford.

3.Set up a breeding plan.

4.Gear your facilities to meet the goal.

1. If you need bigger pens build them.
2. If you need a bigger incubator buy it.
3. Make sure you have enough space to raise young.

5.Put together a good nutrition plan. 

1. What breeder feed will you use?
2. What starter feed will you use?
3. How will you water your flock?
4. Will you use vitamins in the water?

These are just some things to consider as you plan your strategy to reach your goal. I said earlier that we need adventurous breeders. Let me suggest what I mean. I remember visiting Joe Wojnar’s home and walking through his chicken yards with he and Dick Laabs and I was in awe. I saw Blacks, Whites, Black Tailed Whites, Mottleds, Black Tailed Buffs, Partridge, Brown Reds, Cuckoo, Grays, and frizzled in many of these varieties. And I know I am missing many of the varieties that he had, all Japanese and all very Japanese. I see pictures on the Internet today of birds that are listed as Japanese that should have been culled out of the incubator. Joe Wojnar got many of his birds from Germany. This man was dedicated to the promotion of the Japanese bantam. He is not alone. There are a few more through out the years up till today that have dedicated themselves to a certain breed and maybe a certain variety of that breed. We need these people today.

I suggest that you focus your hobbyist energies on a certain breed. Get several varieties of that breed if you need more challenge. If you are really adventurous mix and match. You can do that you know. Take some gray females and a Black Tailed Buff male and cross them. What will you get? A mess with a few potential Brown Reds mixed in. Get a variety that you like; Black Tailed Whites for instance then find a frizzled rock type and mix them. What will you get? A mess with a few potential Black Tailed White Frizzles mixed in. maybe you have some very typy (We make up our own words as we go along.) Grays that have too much shafting. What to do? Breed the Gray females to a black male. What will you get? A mess with a few potentially good Grays mixed in. Take a few White Japanese females and add in a White Leghorn bantam male and what do you get? A line that has the potential for wonderful feather quality.

Take two White Japanese females and put a solid Buff Leghorn bantam male in with them, add thirteen years and what do you get? Solid Buff Japanese!

Take a Rhode Island Red male and cross it with Black Tailed Buff and what do you get? A mess with a few potential Black Tailed reds mixed in.

I once had a pair of Partridge Japanese that came from Joe Wojnar’s stock. I lost them without seeing any offspring. Maybe that can be a challenge to someone. Get a Partridge something, Rock, Old English if you can find one and put him on some Japanese females, maybe Blacks, maybe brown Reds, and see what you get. When you start this kind of adventure each hatch is an exciting event. T ill next time happy hatching! Contact me: Terry Wible 5205 Guitner Rd. Chambersburg, Pa. 17201 (717) 375-4573 twible@pa.net.