Return Breeding method, upgrading process in reverse
In the process we at RB Sugbo Gamefowl Technology call Return Breeding, there is a Subject Strain (SS), the original strain that you will return to. Then there is a Donor Strain (DS), the strain that will contribute the desired additional traits. And finally, the Object Strain (OS), the strain as result of the process.
The Subject Strain in our case is the Manok Bisaya (MB), a PNC strain of the Bankiva type, like the Darag, Banaba and Camarines strains, not the Malayoid type of native chicken, like the Jolo and Paraokan. MB is the chicken indigenous to a number of provinces in the Visayas.
MB is a chicken with tasty meat and also with some fighting capabilities.
Our object is a strain of native chicken that is bigger, better layer and better fighter that we would call Habagat. So we got to have a DS that would introduce these traits to the SS to come up with the OS. In the case of Habagat we had more than one DS. Return Breeding is like upgrading, but the breed back process is the reverse. Instead of breeding back to the upgrader breed, we breed back to the breed to be ugraded, the native chicken, until we attain a generation that is genetically predominant if not practical pure of the native chicken. But, at the same time, possessing the desired traits of the donor strain or donor breed.
Breeding back to the upgrader strain will easily get you the desired traits such as size or fast growth, but the process will also get rid of the beneficial traits of the native chicken such as flavour and adaptability to free range and scavenging. In case of fighting ability, it will rid of some excellent native chicken traits such as far out-reach-cutting, speed and smarts.
Our Return Breeding technique is similar to infusion or breeding-in-breeding-out. The technique, though, is not as straight forward. It involves indirect and incremental breeding-
out of the new blood in order to first stabilize in both parent lines the desired traits before going up another step in the ladder. Incremental or little step-by-step progress is one vital element of Return Breeding that distinguishes it from the other breeding-in-breeding-out techniques.
The culminating process is a series of positive assortative matings followed by stabilization of the new bloodline by purifying the desired traits and discarding the unnecessary ones, or making them homozygous of the desired traits. This process will go on for years.
It is not easy because while we are breeding out most of the genetic influence of the Donor Strain we are keeping the desired traits of the DS. And, another thing in the case of size, there is a limit to how fast you can go without sacrificing meat quality and flavour. Fast growth seems to be a hindrance to achieving ideal meat quality and taste. And also fighting ability.
So, it took time before we came up with the Farmers’ Experience Prototype of a predominantly or even practically a native chicken that is much bigger and much better fighter than ordinary Manok Bisaya, our subject strain.
