Pedigrees, and How To Read Them

By: Nino Bugeja
Date: Wed 8 Feb 2006 9:25 PM
Category: Breeding

Some years back I was invited to an auction where the prizes were Homers. It
was all new to me when I first entered the room where the auction was being
held. As I walked around looking at all the birds, they all carried a
"Pedigree" of its ancestry neatly tied to the cage for all to read and
"Fuss" over. Yes as I read some of these pedigrees I could see that claims
were being made of some great, great grandparent winning a large Combine way
back when. The part that struck me about this whole process was the fact
that for many of the people in the room doing the bidding, were actually
bidding on this individuals birds "Pedigree" rather than its own merits ! I
learned this by talking to some of the very aggressive bidders in the room.
Not a winner in the room, yet all these so called breeders were paying
hundreds of dollars for birds that had not even won a race !! and in their
eyes were "Must Haves" based on a "Pedigree" alone!!

It also was apparent after watching this crowd that they held this piece of
paper in highest esteem, almost worshipping it regardless of the merits and
demerits of the individuals mentioned in it.

Pedigrees, are viewed in some circles by the informed breeder as a tool for
breeding purposes of specimens of outstanding Traits and Characteristics
pertaining to the breed, and what that breed was created to do. Great
breeders use pedigrees as there insurance that the animals they are working
with carry a certain high quality in their family. With "Selection" they can
produce even great specimens for the desirable features they strive for, and
cull the rest even though the "Pedigrees" are of equal value. One must
remember that a "Pedigree" is only a record of one's ancestry and that's
all.

Even those wild pigeons we all see flying around have an "Ancestry" you
know.

Pedigrees that are held by any of us can only be useful if we have a good
understanding of the specimens named on that Pedigree. We must know about
the Traits and Characteristics that were being produced by those individuals
if we are to use the Pedigree for the "Tool" it is. Every specimen is
different from each other, and if the "Pedigree" is to be useful we must
have a good understanding of those differences if were to be able to
calculate the probabilities that will be passed on to future generations

Inheritance is a hit and miss scenario, as when the sperm are all swimming
like hell to reach that egg, the millions that are there are all carrying
some form of inheritance with them, and know two are the same.

Pedigrees are also very useful in locating close relatives of proven stock.
I have talked much on how powerful the use of In-breeding can be for the
informed breeder. Along with a Pedigree of known stock that have been
selected for Traits that are desirable it really comes into play. This is
only possible if we are knowledgeable in the ancestry of our stock.

Don't make your selection of stock from illustrious ancestors, ( A fancy
Pedigree ) its simple not enough. The individual stock should posses the
quality's that its ancestors were noted for, and as few faults as can be
obtained. When striving to produce "Great Individuals", one must first know
where the quality is coming from.

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