nino / 02 Feb 2011 16:01

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[The question is once you have selected a pair of pigeons to breed from
(selection criteria being performance - time flown) does this pair ever
breed youngs which lack in performance in anyway? --Abdul]

Nice question, and one that has been asked many times in the past by those
that wish to find the answer.

Have you ever heard of Mendelian Laws ? They are the laws of "inheritance"
discovered by Gregor Mendel, as well as Charles Darwin who was a explorer
who's theory's of "Evolution " turned the Victorian world upside-down so
very long ago. Between these two gentlemen, there was an answer to "Life"
itself, and how the process worked. Some through genetics, they other
through the phenomenon of Nature and how they were linked to each other in
the Natural world as well as the Artificial world that we all share in.

You ask a great question, and I ask you, do you believe that every living
thing, ( take pigeons ) are different than each other ? if you do, you are
quite correct: but do you know why ? When you have a better understanding of
that, you will have a better understanding of the question and answer you
seek.

There are three basic "Laws of Inheritance" that govern all living things,
they are the Law of Dominance, the Law of Segregation, and the Law of
Independent Assortment.

The law of Dominance refers to microscopic strands of material called
Chromosomes, witch are arranged in pairs. Each pair of Chromomosones has
countless pairs of genes arranged along their length. Each of these pairs of
genes is responsible for a particular "Trait" depending on whether one or
both of these genes are dominant or recessive. A dominant gene is named in
this way because when it is paired with its complimentary recessive gene, it
will "dominate" the expression of the trait governed by that pair of genes.

Law of Segregation states that all genes whether dominate or recessive,
maintain their separate identity throughout the process of reproduction..

The Law of Independent Assortment states that every gene is inherited
independently of all other genes.

When you have a better understanding of these laws and who the impact your
stock, you will have your answers. When you are in this game long enough,
you will ask yourself why the progeny of say two brothers can differ so much
in their performance. the answer lies with-in the three laws.

When you get into this you will come across two other very important words,
Heterozygous and Homozygous, these are of grave importance to your quest.
One represents a combination of :Impure" traits or "Heterozygous Traits",
while the other represents "Traits" that are "Pure" or "Homozygous" for a
given Trait

Now when you hear these guys claiming Purity for their stock, are they
really ? I say no! What you are after is referred to as "Genetic Purity" for
Traits that you seek among your stock. That can never ne achieved when one
is constantly bring in different stock from different sources'. The mixing
of this stock would render most offspring of the first generation one of
Heterozygous Traits and mostly impure in terms of being able to pass on
their quality's if they have any that you desire.

When a bird or animal has two dominant genes for the same Trait, then it is
considered "Pure" or "Homozygous" and this is the only way one can consider
Purity of a given Trait, say eye color as it is relatively easy because you
can see it. It is the same for performance, conformation, feathering, tall
on leg, short on leg the whole thing.

This is just a quick look at why things are what they are at times, and
In-breeding is the only way to capitalize on these Traits when they are
found. That is why if breeders of any strip would take the time to check
into why certain breeders are always on the winning side, they would see
that in-breeding at some point was their choice of breeding method.

I know it's a bit lengthy, so I will let it go at this point, until the next
time.


Submitted by nino on 2/2/2011 4:59:01 PM