Preparing for spring: to breed or not to breed?

So if you are thinking of breeding some waterfowl, think very carefully about what they are for. Birds, and geese especially, can live for a long time. And one has a 'duty of care' to look after pet birds, just as commercial birds have a code of welfare to protect them too.

"The draft Animal Welfare Bill marks a watershed in animal welfare legislation and will for the first time put a duty of care on those who own or look after companion animals and allow earlier action to prevent suffering. With nearly half of all households in the country owning pets, the Companion Animal Welfare Council's role in helping to inform government thinking on welfare remains vitally important."(1) Pupose If birds are to be hatched for a commercial enterprise for producing table eggs, table birds or for pure breeds for exhibition purposes, then there is clear goal in mind. The success of the business or hobby is very dependent on the welfare of the birds. Good practice will mean that there must be sufficient space to rear the birds in clean conditions and that equipment is in good order. Also, that one has sufficient knowledge about the subject, and time to spend looking after the livestock.

Marketing of the products must also be arranged well in advance of production, and be at the appropriate time to maximise profits. Unsold perishable stock results in a huge loss. The producer must also have a clear understanding of the regulations surrounding the production and sale of table birds and eggs. If they are pure breeds, then an advertising and sales strategy will be needed, especially if the vendor has no previous experience in exhibiting and selling pure breeds.

So, if you are not sure what will happen to young birds - why breed them? Most people do not breed from their pet dog or cat because demand for animals is limited, particularly if they are mongrels and moggies. If there are too many offspring to manage they will have to be sold (which is time consuming); they may be worth very little or not be saleable, and eventually may end up being culled (especially males). Apart from being distasteful to many, culling should not be carried out without training, on welfare grounds.

Selling birds can be expensive too. If they are entered for auctions there is an entry fee and a percentage is taken by the auctioneer to cover costs such as hired penning and labour to set up the pens and run the auction. If prices are poor - and they will be if the birds are of poor quality - the birds can in fact 'make' a loss.

Cost If you are to breed for commercial purposes, then some hard-headed business decisions need to be taken too. Setting up to rear birds can be expensive per item, especially if only a few birds are to be produced and reared. The cost of production per bird will be high if one takes into account capital equipment such as an incubator, heat lamp for rearing, construction of a rearing pen, wire and fencing posts for rearing off-heat outdoors, housing, feeding and watering equipment. There are also running costs of food, metered water and veterinary bills.

If the birds are pure breeds for hobby purposes, and only to be bred in small numbers, then financial constraints are less important. But the quality of the breeder birds must be sound. They need to be good examples of their breed for type and colour, free from physical defects and not too inbred.

Choosing birds for breeding: catching Any bird for breeding must be free for physical defects. That applies to commercial birds and pure breeds. Such birds are normally selected in the autumn from well-grown birds bred that first year.

Catching for selection needs to be done with great care in large flocks of commercial birds, especially when the birds are not used to being handled. A group of birds which contains potential breeder birds should be separated off quietly from the main flock and gently herded (with several people to help if needed) into an enclosed area or shed. Any potential obstacle on which the birds can hurt themselves (troughs etc) must be removed and clean bedding put down. Herding the birds must take place slowly, without running the birds around. Indian Runners and geese in particular are likely to go 'off their legs' with stress. In bad cases, birds are unable to walk and must be given a stress-free environment for up to two weeks to enable them to recover. This problem can also occur in birds which have been transported in cramped conditions. Runners forced to sit down in low poultry crates fare particularly badly because their joints and muscles are stressed.

This condition of 'capture myopathy' is experienced in hunted animals such as kangaroo, hare and deer. Fear and anxiety plus excessive body heat and too much adrenaline will result in capture myopathy. The stress of the chase causes anaerobic metabolism (through rapid exercise rather than slow exercise). This results in the over-production of lactic acid and consequent serious muscle damage.

The clinical signs of capture myopathy can include sudden death within 24 hours. Death can occur after several hours of symptoms, or from cardiac arrest from muscle damage. The animal/bird can appear to recover, but has heart damage, so it may die at the next stressful event. It is therefore essential when catching birds for any purpose to avoid simulating a chase, and to keep conditions as stress-free as possible. With a small number of birds which are driven into their shed and let out each morning, and which are used to seeing people, this should not, of course, be an issue.

Examining the birds It is very important that birds used for breeding are free from physical defects, and are good examples of the breed. A defect in one bird mated with an unrelated bird may seem to disappear in the next generation. In further generations, when siblings might be bred together (inbred), that same defect can reoccur. It is best not to use birds that are seen to be defective.

Hold birds correctly when examining them. The hand should be passed under the body and the bird's legs held. In the case of waterfowl, the legs should not be held tightly together because their hip joints are set at the sides of the body for paddling. So squeezing the legs together causes stress. I tend to hold just one leg (the one closest to my body) whilst the bird is tucked into my body. The other hand is passed across the back of the bird and holds its opposite wing if necessary.

Legs: Holding the bird like this, and tucking its head under your arm, it can then be closely examined for any defects. Check that the leg joints are normal and not swollen. Check that the underside of the feet are healthy - no swollen joints under the toes or bumble foot at the heel. Also make sure that the toes are straight. Deformed feet tend to come with excessive inbreeding. This also applies to slipped tendon over the hock. Make sure that this joint is normal, the tendon in place, and that the bird moves freely when it is released again.

Head: Whilst still holding the bird, examine the eyes carefully; they should be bright and free from any pale cast impeding vision. The beak should also be straight (not twisted in any way) and the correct shape for the breed. In Indian Runners this means dead straight along the top line. Also, the top and lower mandibles must be the normal length - an undershot bill is a bad fault seeen occasionally in Call ducks and geese.

Spine: Before the bird is released, also check for any spinal deformities. There should be no kinked neck, wry rail or roach back. All of these deformities tend to be genetic. Such birds should not be used as breeders, and it is particularly important to look for these faults in Indian Runners and crested ducks. Very tall Runners are not actually required for the show pen - especially if the neck is very long. Choose birds with the neck just 1/3 of the total length of the birds, with no neck kink. It is the tallest birds which are more likely to have a 'kinked 'neck - a spinal deformity. Crested ducks in particular suffer from spinal deformities which seem to be linked to the crested gene. So again it is very important to choose birds in this breed which have good conformation.

Condition: Finally examine the condition of the bird. It should be free of parasites. Look for northern mite living on the bird in the head region of waterfowl, and on the body of chickens; check for lice which live on the wing feathers of waterfowl, and scaly leg mite in chickens (waterfowl do not get scaly leg). The feather condition should be tight and glossy, with the feather herl locked well together by the barbs. Birds which suffer from 'wet feather' should not be used in the breeding pen. Finally check the vent of the bird. Parasites gather there in poultry. The vent and the feathers around it should be clean. Drakes suffering from prolapse of the penis are, for example, no good for breeding.

Buying stock birds: Where does one start?

Sales and auctions are attractive places for a buyer to choose birds because so many are on display to choose from. But one has to be experienced with birds to know if they are a 'good buy'. The birds cannot be handled, but it is useful to run through the checklist above before buying. Do take an experienced, independent poultry person's advice at auctions over condition, sex and breed. It is important to check the sex of the birds, especially with geese. Vendors can make genuine mistakes too, but the most common 'mistake' is to sell two ganders as a 'pair' of geese. Also, although birds in a sale may be listed as a 'breed', it is quite common for the 'Aylesbury' to be a white commercial duck, for Indian Runners to be cross breeds, and 'Brecon Buffs' to be anything but that.

The same problems may of course be encountered with adverts in the local newspaper. Such adverts will be placed both by experienced breeders and by people who know little about what they have bred but may need to dispose of surplus stock. Again, an experienced person's advice is essential to make a good choice.

Shows and exhibitions which have a sale section as well as a show section are more likely to have reliable pure breeds for sale. These events are advertised in the monthly calendar of events for Smallholder and include shows such as Devon and Cornwall Waterfowl Show at Wadebridge (Sunday 26th November 2006 Tel 01726 882507) Breeders who regularly advertise in reliable journals, especially those who also exhibit their birds, are also more likely to have the genuine article for sale. Further advantages of buying privately of course are that one can discuss the birds with their owners, check they have the right sexes and breed, know their age, and find out how closely related the birds are. In a sale pen, the most usual case is for the birds to be siblings.

Don't leave buying stock until the spring. Breeders have to dispose of most of their stock before the winter sets in. There are many reason for this largely concerned with managing the land with numbers of birds over the winter, marketing stock at Christmas, and cost of feed. If good breeder birds are required, buy them in the autumn when there is a choice. The birds are in shorter supply in spring, prices will be higher, and the birds you want may not be available.

Ideal birds: things you need to know Age: Two-year-olds in ducks and geese are better breeders that yearlings. This is especially important in breeds where size in wanted. Size is easily lost by using small eggs from first year birds. Older ducks are less productive than two and thee-year-olds. Shell quality and quantity tends to decline after 4 years, but if the duck is a good example of the breed, such birds are retained when breed quality is the most important criterion. Geese have a longer productive life, and so do drakes especially in the light breeds.

The standard: If pure breeds are required, know the standard. Waterfowl standards are published by the British Waterfowl Association (2) and provide illustrations and descriptions of the breeds of ducks and geese. Poultry Club Standards cover all the breeds of exhibited poultry, including turkeys. Do buy from a reputable breeder if you want good examples of pure breeds.

Fit for purpose - eggs or table? If commercial birds are required, then great care also has to be taken in selecting birds fit for the purpose. They must be a suitable breed and strain. Egg production in light ducks can vary enormously, and will decline if the birds are inbred. Similarly, table birds are not vigorous growers unless carefully selected strains are used. Pilot schemes are essential before expanding to a commercial scale - or stock which is known to be reliable is purchased.

Relationships: 'Breeding pairs' of birds also need to be genetically compatible. If birds have been inbred for generations i.e. brother and sister are used from parents which were also brothers and sister, then genetic faults may well be seen in the offspring. Inbreeding like this is a recipe for revealing any damaging recessive genes that birds may carry. Pure breeds of birds are always inbred to a certain degree, but this is generally done with lines of birds where breeders have kept records of performance, and their genetic inheritance is known. An understanding of the potential of breed lines only comes with experience and time to learn about stock.

Breeding pen management: Don't burden females with too many males. A duck and a drake (a pair) can be fine together. Problems arise when, in a larger group, two or more males all compete for the same female. Feathers will be pulled from the back of the head and neck, and even eyes damaged. This can even arise in a flock where there is as good ratio of 1 male to 7 females. The behaviour of drakes must be monitored, and offending birds removed from a breeding flock or pen.

Feeding for breeding: layers' rations are not breeders' rations: The type of food required varies with the age and sex of the birds. Growers' pellets can still be fed to young birds whilst they are not in lay, but after 20 weeks of age, ducks should be fed some layers pellet, especially if they are expected to lay in the autumn. In the spring, breeder pellets are needed for good quality hatching eggs. These rations contain a higher proportion of vitamins and minerals which are needed by the developing embryo. Mixed poultry grit is useful for breaking down food in the gizzard and supplying calcium, but the correct balance of calcium and phosphorus in the pellets is more important.

Eggs for incubation: tips for incubation follow in the February edition of Smallholder. A detailed article about incubation of waterfowl eggs was published earlier in Smallholder 2006. Further details in Chris and Mike Ashton's book 'The Domestic Duck" (Crowood Press) available from Smallholder Bookshop References (1) Ben Bradshaw, DEFRA website (2) British Waterfowl Association www.waterfowl.org.uk Tel 01892 740212 PO Box 163, Oxted, RH8 OWP