Achieving good genotype or substance
The elements of a good gamefowl are substance form and function. Substance is the genotype. Form is the phenotype. Function is fighting ability and pre-potency. The three, in their best perspective, make a good gamefowl. These three are highly correlated.
This part of the course explains in detail what is substance, form and function. Understanding these three elements is the key to producing good gamefowl.
An ideal genotype is either pure or heavy with the traits you desire to constitute your bloodline’s type. The ideal substance is one that will enable the characteristics you want in your gamefowl to manifest in order for it to fulfill its function. Therefore you aim for seed fowl for the traits you want.
Once you have identified the characteristics you want in your gamefowl, and you have acquired or created your seed fowl, you may now proceed to further purifying said characteristics.
The common practice of purifying traits is inbreeding or the mating of related individuals. However, since inbreeding minimizes genetic variations, likewise, it increases the risk of inbreeding depression. Avoid inbreeding
But inbreeding is not the only way of purifying desirable traits. We can purify good traits without resorting to in-breeding.
Yes, that’s it. You can purify traits even without inbreeding, and there are even advantages to it. You can make desirable traits homozygous or predominant by selective breeding, particularly positive assortative mating or mating like to like of unrelated individuals.
If you do this, you reduce the risk of unseen identical bad alleles as in the case of related individuals. However, because you select for the desired traits you are nonetheless assured that these traits are common in the individuals you mate and can become homozygous or preponderant even if these individuals are not related.
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