This article is about incubator management and how it is key to waterfowl hatching success, and is being republished from Acorn Hollow Bantams website with permission from Lou Horton. Some breeders never seem to master the art (and it is an art) of incubator management. As a result, they seldom hatch a satisfactory number of youngsters […]
Incubator Management: Key to Waterfowl Success Read More »
This article is about setting your breeding priorities and is being republished from Acorn Hollow Bantams website with permission from Lou Horton. I believe that one of the most basic mistakes new breeders of any type of fowl can make is to not take the time and effort to interpret the Standard of Perfection description of
Breeding Priorities: Set Your Own Read More »
This article is giving young birds a chance to finish growing before deciding if they are breeding quality or not, and is being republished from Acorn Hollow Bantams website with permission from Lou Horton. A common mistake made even by experienced breeders is to rush the selection process in the late summer/fall of the year. Maybe
Giving Young Birds a Chance Read More »
This article is on breeding bantam ducks and is being republished from Acorn Hollow Bantams website with permission from Lou Horton. Most breeders are obsessed with small size in their birds early in their breeding careers. Some even go to the extreme of purchasing the smallest ducks they can find at shows and breeding them together
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This article is on when and how to add new blood to a breeding program and is being republished from Acorn Hollow Bantams website with permission from Lou Horton. A carefully bred line of birds may not need an infusion of new blood for decades but it is likely that at some point, it will need
Adding New Blood: When and How Read More »
This article is on egg production in your breeding stock and is being republished from Acorn Hollow Bantams website with permission from Lou Horton. When I began my breeding program in Rouen ducks in the late nineteen sixties, I kept track of the egg production of each female since I was stud mating the birds and
Egg Production in Breeding Stock Read More »
This article is how breeding records are essential to success and is being republished from Acorn Hollow Bantams website with permission from Lou Horton. Once in a while, a mating really clicks and that really special bird (or birds) is produced. The only thing better than that is being able to reproduce more of the same.
Breeding Records are Essential Read More »
This article is about how temperament is an inheritable characteristic, and is being republished from Acorn Hollow Bantams website with permission from Lou Horton. I believe that temperament is an inheritable characteristic. Temperament is not something which is obvious when one first looks at a bird, but it is a valuable characteristic when the temperament is good.
Inheritable Temperament Read More »
This article is about if you should raise more breeds or varieties or not, and is being republished from Acorn Hollow Bantams website with permission from Lou Horton. It is so very easy to gradually add to the breeds and varieties one raises and if one exceeds one’s capabilities, it can decrease rather than increase
Breeds or varieties: Should you raise more? Read More »
This article is discussing small vs. flock matings and is being republished from Acorn Hollow Bantams website with permission from Lou Horton. I have found over time that small matings made up of high quality birds which are well matched are to be preferred over large matings in which high quality birds are mixed with
Small vs. Flock Matings Read More »
The APA works to support the community breeding and raising Standard Bred Poultry in all its phases with a goal on breeding to the Standard of Perfection.