F1s are not best for breeding

What's an F1?

In genetics, F1 is not Formula 1, but 1st filial generation. And, according to Mendellian genetics, F1s are not good for breeding as it will not result in uniform offspring.

The term F1 has recently become popular among game fowl raisers, more specifically among chicken peddlers on the internet. What does it mean?

Don’t get confused. The truth is F1 could mean so many things. So when you encounter the word F1, don’t take it by the definition you know, instead ask the breeder, seller or peddler, as the case may be, what exactly he means by F1. And, don’t be surprised if a few of them don’t even have a definition to give, as they used the term without any clear cut understanding of its meaning.

By denotation, an F1 is not necessarily a pure or a cross. F1 is a generation resulting immediately from a set of parents. So, depending on your point of reference, every generation is an F1 in relation to its parents. So in this respect, every individual cock or hen is an F1.

On the other hand, the term “F1 hybrid” in genetics is never pure. It is the first filial generation resulting from a cross between strains of distinct genotypes, thus it is a crossbred. Do not mistake hybrid with “high breed” or “hi-breed.” The former means a cross between distinct bloodlines while the later is a term Filipinos use to refer to a game fowl of high quality.

So when the term F1 is used by a breeder, it may mean one or the other of the definitions above. It could mean anything. For example it could mean a pure out of a pair of parents that are both pure of a certain bloodline. It could also be a cross out of a kelso male and a roundhead female or even out of a mating between a two-way cross father and two-way cross mother.

At RB Sugbo, the term F1 means a cross, a hybrid. The first cross of two different bloodlines—whether strains or breeds. In game fowl, crossing, for example, a kelso with a sweater is crossing strains, since both are American game. Crossing a sweater, with any asil strain is crossing breeds as sweater belongs to the breed American Game while Asil is an Oriental breed.

We at RB Sugbo, use the term F1 when we refer to a cross that will be further used for continuity or link matings, not a terminal cross or a simple battle cross. To us an F1 is a cross with a breeding purpose.

To us an F1 cross means the cross is intended for any or all of the following:

1. As start of the process of setting a strain or a breed;

2. As upgrading of or infusion to either or both parent bloodlines.

3. As future crossing with other bloodlines or crosses to produce desired terminal battle crosses.

We also fight our F1 as we even test fight our pure, however, we don’t call our simple battle cross as F1. To us a simple battle cross is a terminal cross solely intended for fighting, not for any further use in breeding.

We hope this will help explain what we mean by F1. Others of course have different definition of the term. It will also help if you are familiar with how the term was first used in relation with the Mendelian experiment. So next time you will not be surprised that when F1s are bred among one another the offspring or F2s are somewhat different from the F1s. How much more the F3s?

This is the reason why many buyers of so-called F1s get disappointed when their F1s failed to produce the expected results.