Meet the best bloodline
Is the search for the best bloodline over?
Hatch, Kelso, Sweater, Roundhead Claret, Lemon, Brownreds and Grey . They are names of American game strains, popular names of blood lines. There are many many more. They are all over. But, which bloodline, strain or breed is the best?
None, because what’s in a name? Nothing. Yes, to us, the name of a bloodline of game fowl means nothing. Sweater, roundhead, kelso, lemon, butcher, hatch, grey and countless others are names of bloodlines of game fowl. But names don’t kill opponents, and don’t win fights.
Is sweater good? Is roundhead good? Is kelso good? Well, there are sweaters, roundheads and kelsos that are good and there are sweater, roundheads and kelsos that are bum. This is, as well, true, to other bloodlines and strains.
Hence, we do not base our selection on mere bloodlines names. We judge and select based on the attributes of the individual chicken or particular family. We don’t say that the 5k$ sweater is an outstanding bloodline, because there are 5k$ sweaters in the hands of some breeders that are just average or even rejects.
We do not generalize. It has to be specific. We do not just breed any lemon over any hatch just because we saw somebody won the World Slasher Cup with some lemon to hatch crosses.
When the Zamboanga whites were very popular decades ago, everybody wanted whites. Lately, some breeders won big derbies with doms. Everybody then wanted to breed or fight the dom.
Now is the Peruvian good? People seemed to be crazy with Peruvians. But the truth is there are are more garbage Peruvians than there are good ones.
Our point here is that it is useless to base selection on bloodline names or plumage color. Anybody can drop any famous bloodline name. Anybody can call any pea comb yellow legged rooster as sweater, yellow legged hatch or kelso. Likewise popular plumage color like white or bulik, can be bred into a line in a season. But, barring lucky nicks, genuine positive traits are bred in over years of intelligent selection and decisions. This is what we are after. Genuine positive traits, not just bloodline names. How do we do it? By repeatedly breeding these desired traits year in and year out into our gene pool.
The best bloodlines may or may not have a name but they possess the qualities that make roosters win.
Well, forget bloodline names. Grab a good chicken regardless of its name. An excellent chicken is worth its weight in gold, no matter what it is called. A bum is a bum no matter the brand.
