Cock side and hen side of matings

In chicken breeding, both in commercial meat and egg and in hobby show breeding, breeders maintain a cock side and a hen side of matings. We made researches and consulted experts on why in many livestock and poultry breeding there is always the male and female side. We got explanations.

These are called inheritance emphasized from the male and inheritance emphasized from the female. Then, from all the data we had gathered, we made our own conclusions applicable to game fowl breeding. One reason is because there are traits that can be inherited only from the father. Example are sex-linked traits that can only be inherited by the pullets from the father. Conversely there are traits that can be inherited only from the mother. Example is mitochondrial inheritance.

Then, there are traits that can be observed only from one sex but not from the other. Example are extreme gameness on the cock side and egg laying rate on the hen side. You cannot assess the gameness of a hen because you don’t fight hens in the pit. You cannot assess the egg laying capability of a cock because roosters don’t lay eggs.

There is also the so-called sex-controlled and sex limited inheritance. Sex-controlled or sex-influenced, is a genetically controlled feature that may appear in organisms of both sexes but is expressed to a different degree in each. The character seems to act as a dominant in one sex and a recessive in the other. Sex-controlled gene is a gene that can be inherited by both genders but is usually expressed differently in males and females.

Sex-limited gene is a gene that can be inherited by both genders but is usually expressed in only males or females.

In the wild, it is the duty of the male of the species to defend flock and territory. So males possess traits like power, bravery, speed, fierceness, etc. But cutting ability and gameness in gamefowl are not the exactly the same as the power, strength, fierceness and speed required in the wild. Cutting and gameness as required in gamefowl are not necessary the kind of cutting and gameness required in the wild type.

These are important attributes of the game fowl that are not necessarily wild type to chickens because these traits demanded of our warriors are not necessarily needed for survival in the wild. However, these traits are essential for survival in the pit. It is then the duty of the breeder to provide these traits by artificial selection and induced changes or improvements.

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