Genetic diversity helps
Hybridization results in better gamefowl
(This series is part of lessons at Advanced Breeding Academy. To enrol PM RBS Premium on FB. Photo: Peruvian-American hybrid by RB Sugbo.)
3rd of a series: Why does genetic diversity help?
The Peruvian may help improve our bloodlines because of genetic diversity.
Genetic diversity or genetic variation is described as genetic differences among individuals of the same species, sub species, or population. This variation permits flexibility and survival of a population in the face of changing environmental circumstances. Genetic variation is considered an advantage, as it is a form of preparation for the unexpected.
In gamefowl breeding, diversity increases the chances of bad traits being masked. Because nature sees to it that, more often than not, better alleles are the dominant versions. It is not always the case, but in chicken it is more likely, because otherwise, chicken may have already become extinct.
Nature has its own way of selection aimed at ensuring the survival of the fit and elimination of the unfit. The species and populations that have survived in their respective environments have wild type traits that are fit, meaning fit for survival in the environment they belong.
If the wild type of a population is inferior, the population will become unfit for survival. Few individuals will survive and those few who somehow manage to survive will pass on bad genes, hence, fewer and fewer individuals will survive generation after generation. The population will eventually become extinct.
So, nature has a way for some species to survive, without which, some species eventually get to become extinct. Thus, for the fit species, nature saw to it that traits needed for survival in the wild manifest more frequently, thus they are most probably dominant.
They are the appropriate wild type. Since chicken has continued to exist in the wild for thousands of years already, then its wild type is appropriate for survival, thus, good and dominant. And many of this wild type traits useful for survival in the wild turn out also useful for survival in the pit.
Also more genetic diverity will enable a good breeder to choose which variants of the traits he will breed for, in the long run, in accordance with his breeding objectives.Selective breeding works best if one has many options to select from.
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