Blog and breeding project launch

   Welcome to the launch of both my blog, and my chicken breeding/genetics project.  I've lurked around the blogs for a long time, but this is my first one.  It seemed like a good venue--I've signed off on most other social media.  And blogs seem more directed--and let's face it--more intelligent than Facebook. 
     A friend of mine, and hardcore organic gardener and permaculturist described chickens as the "gateway drug" to permaculture.  And I have to absolutely agree.  While many of us dream of a life in the country--several acres of land, and the time and finances to do amazing and sustainable things, the reality is most of us need to be a little more modest.
     The scope of this project is to work on the development of a breed that is suited for free range in northern climates.  As very few of us have the space or other resources required to undertake a project like this properly, it is absolutely possible for several to contribute a small amount of space and resources.  We can do this because fresh, fertilized eggs are relatively easy to ship.  They remain viable for a significant amount of time after being laid, and the clock really doesn't start until they are placed in an incubator.  Thanks to this feature, the project would involve the participants making the crosses, then sending fertilized eggs to other participants.  Spreading the procedure out does several things. First, it helps ensure that the already diverse genetics of the populations remain fresh.  Periodically, new birds will enter the flock from an unrelated or only distantly related gene pool.  From a practical standpoint, spreading out the flock also achieves security.  While it should not happen often, it would only take one raccoon or mink in a coop to wipe out the entire project.  Having the project spread out over several locations means that the person experiencing the loss could quickly come back up to speed.  Fertilized eggs from a number of other participants could be sent in, and the flock up an running in a few months.
   
   

       In order for breeding to be a beneficial, a large number of individuals need to be produced, and out of those a small number of the best retained for further breeding.  A friend of mine breeds and raises chickens for shows, and he claimed about 1 in 50 chicks are up to a standard that he would be willing to show.   I'm not particularly interested in showing--but it demonstrates the idea that in order to improve the population, only the best of the best should move on to the next round.
   
     But this brings us to a practical problem. In order to produce offspring, we need a rooster.  And in order to produce offspring from a wide genetic base, we need a couple of roosters.  Roosters, as it turn out, have some behavioral issues (aggression) and are famous for crowing a couple hours before dawn. They consume food, but do not produce eggs.  So many/most backyard operations don't keep any.    I'm hoping here, to establish a network of other enthusiasts, who  would be interested in participating in this project.  Each operation would select some crosses to perform, and send a portion of the fertilized eggs to other operations.  Then, 2x crosses could be come 4x...   As the crosses develop, and the genes become more homogonized, other traits could be bred in and shared, etc. 
     The interesting thing about this approach is that it would draw on a genetically very diverse pool.  Also, each operation would decide on it's own which species would join the breeding flock, and which would not.  The burden would be spread out over (hopefully) a number of enthusiasts. 
     With that introduction, please share and promote!