BY

Joe Stayer, Olean, N.Y.

Over the years since starting in the Roller hobby, I have heard of many ways to develop a family of Rollers.

I have heard that in England they do a lot of Line Breeding, Their procedure is to take several hens and mate to one cock. Then they switch the eggs to foster breeders who hatch and raise the young.

The United States has a standard set up by our Agricultural University who are also involved with the American Breeders Association. These standard rules are tested and developed to raise better stock m America. We get our results by following three types of breeding. They are: Line Breeding, In Breeding and Out Breeding.

Line Breeding: Take 2 unrelated birds of the opposite sex and mate. In ten days after mating, 2 eggs are laid. Seventeen days later the eggs hatch. These birds will have 50% of each parents blood in them. The father begins the line. He is bred to the daughter to carry on the father's size and color on to the children.

In Breeding: Since the mother doesn't carry the line, the son is mated to the mother. In breeding makes the stock small. These birds will be fast spinning performers in the air.

Out Breeding: New stock is brought in from out of the area and mated to the hen. Stock will then get larger. By bringing in a hen the size of bird won't change. But bringing in a cock to mate with a hen will change the size of bird m the young.

If you start with a good spinning family, do not out breed. It takes three years before you will know what you have with the new stock. The best way is to mate father to daughter and son to mother. The more you inbreed the better because the stock gets smaller and the birds will be a fast spinner of velocity in the air.

If you have roll downs or if the birds have poor wing feathers, stop in breeding and out-breed. To check for poor wing feathers, spread wing out and if light comes through the feathers it is a poor wing and you must mate the bird with a bird with tight wing feathers.

These are ways I know of between the English breeding and ours.

I acquired much of my knowledge going to the state fairs for many years. College graduated herdsmen gladly give information on all sorts of breeding.