About TopTiels' Linebreeding Program

WHAT IS LINEBREEDING ?

Simply put, linebreeding/inbreeding involves the mating of closely related animals (ie. Father to
daughter, mother to son, cousins to cousins, etc). Why would a breeder want to do this? This
process results in a condition geneticists refer to as homozygosity (a genetically pure organism
that has a certain quality). If a breeder is working toward producing the perfect Cockatiel or at the
very least, a strong line of show winners, linebreeding is the process by which this end result is
accomplished.

Many people have been mislead into thinking that if two animals who are related reproduce, their
progeny will be deformed, mutant, or otherwise unhealthy. This is simply not true. Horses, dogs
and many other animals that have been bred to be different from their ancestors have been
linebred. In fact, if your family dog is a pedigreed pooch, I guarantee you that he or she is a
product of linebreeding!

Linebreeding over-simplified, takes a gene for size, color, personality, etc... and "Locks" it into
future offspring of the pair.

If you are looking for a certain quality in your aviary that seems to be lacking, such as crest size,
overall weight, length and/or even the ability to incubate well (yes, that is also a trait of our birds)
then the easiest way to establish that trait is to purchase a bird (or pair of birds) that has been
linebred and start from that point.

THE MASTER PLAN:

Our suggestion? Do what we did ! Don't buy just one outstanding bird, buy at least two. I know
you're probably thinking to yourself, "They're already this expensive for just one bird! Now I'm
suppose to buy two of them ??" Besides, we all have at least one or two birds that are really pretty
good, right ? Ok, let's look at an example:

PLAN ONE: The typical way

Let's say that you're looking for a great Cockatiel that is going to put some size on to those
gorgeous (albeit small) Cockatiels of yours at home. You've found him on the Available Breeders
Page or even the Showtiels Page and this new choice of yours is perfect. Long full crest, large
size and gentle nature are just some of his wonderful attributes. He's $500 and you've got that in
your "Bird Fund", so you order him.

Now he gets bred to your best hen and, because he's linebred, some of the babies are
outstanding ! You keep back your best and two years later, you've got three beautiful new
Cockatiels as your new & improved breeding stock. They're not quite as perfect as your original
TopTiels cock, but they're definitely better than what you started with, so those get bred to your
next three best birds. and so on, and so on, and so on.

Each time these new & improved birds get bred with your original stock, Your original TopTiels
linebred bird's genes are split. You started with 100% of his genes, but by continuing to outcross
him to your aviary birds, you've ended up with 12% of his genetic make-up by the third generation !

So, what did you really get for your $500 ? You got a $500 bird !! That's it !!

PLAN TWO: Our Way

Let's start out pretty much the same way as we did in Plan one. You've found him on the Available
Breeders Page or even the Showtiels Page and this new choice of yours is perfect. Long full
crest, large size and gentle nature are just some of his wonderful attributes. You check his
pedigree and find that he heralds from the classic combination of Phil Feret's stock, which is NCS
16P and Linda Greeson, which is 55G.

What's your next step ? Find a cousin of his that's also gorgeous and (even though the linebred
pair is a staggering $1200) you buy her, too !

Now, these two get bred to each other, and since one of the many traits we work with is clutch
size, they breed and you get 6 fertile eggs. These babies are all gorgeous... Every last one ! You
pull them at 2-3 weeks for handfeeding and what happens ? Mom and Dad go right back to nest
and give you 5 more big gorgeous chicks !!

So, in their first season of production, you've now got not 2, but 13 linebred birds to work with in
your aviary (all of the chicks plus the original pair)! That's less than $100 a piece ( even less
when you consider that in those two years that you're waiting for your new chicks to mature, Mom
and Dad are still breeding and yielding you more and more big beautiful chicks).

To summarize quickly...

WHAT'S NEXT IN THE PROGRAM ?

Because the improvement of your birds is the real reason all of this started, let's concentrate on
that for now, ok? Two years have gone by and your TopTiels babies have matured into beautiful
showbirds. Now is the time to outcross into your stock.

Start by selecting the birds that you want to use for the program. If your best bird in the entire
aviary is a cock, then choose your best TopTiels hen for his mate. If your primary bird is a hen,
then choose your best TopTiels cock for her mate. The birds should also be paired in a
complementary manner. A bird with a weak crest is mated to a bird with a good crest. A long &
slender Cockatiel is matched with a heavier and shorter tiel and so on. When possible, birds
strong in a similar characteristic are matched to strengthen that particular trait.

In cycle one, your best cock is placed with the TopTiels hen. They are allowed to raise two
clutches. After the pair has raised two clutches, they are separated and placed back into resting
cages. (Typically most breeders separate cocks and hens when they're not breeding to avoid
developing strong bonds).

What has been produced is a large group of related birds (sons & daughters, brothers and
sisters). This family is carefully observed. The offspring are compared to each other to determine
which exhibits more of the desired traits. At maturity, the offspring are separated and are
"judged", rated, and assigned a number.

The #1 rated cock is mated back to his mother. The #1 rated hen is mated back to her father.
Here is the establishment of your line. The next generation of chicks produced from this grouping
will determine if this new line should continue. The same process of judging is done to
determine the quality of the chicks produced. This is done many times with many different
pairings in the aviary using one of the initial stock and pairing it to one of the TopTiels stock. If a
certain pairing is successful, the best offspring are mated back to their original parents. When a
line does not produce the quality desired, it is discontinued.

This procedure is continued for several generations. It is necessary to have an occasional
outcross. This is a bird that has similar features to those desired. It is used to strengthen the
line and to increase vigor and vitality.

A successful line of birds does not come easily. It takes hard work, careful record keeping, and a
good understanding of the standard. There are problems that can occur and this is when a
proper knowledge of avian genetics and anatomy is a must. Some poor traits that are genetically
passed are: small heads, light cheek patches, hinged tails, crossed wings, loose or buff
feathering, under or overshot beaks, stance, deportment,... and the list goes on.

Remember, to mate the best to the best and sell the rest. An exhibition breeder must choose
carefully the pairs to be used for any breeding program and not use birds just because they are
available. A well designed and carefully followed plan for linebreeding will result in better birds.

additional information can be found by clicking here

Quoted from an article by LINDA S. RUBIN, Linebreeding & Inbreeding Practices

Remember three important points:

1) Do not buy from too many breeders. Limit yourself to only TopTiels or an equally classed
breeder. Buying from too many sources causes lines that have taken decades to develop to
simply disappear.

2) Buy linebred birds. It is better to buy good quality, linebred birds that you know have set
characteristics and a detailed pedigree illustrating the success of its family line, than to buy
unrelated outcrosses, no matter how lovely the birds may appear. You can only guess about the
history of an outcross and whether any good qualities are set as dominant traits. Once your
breeding program is at a certain point, you will need to bring in an unrelated outcross. However,
you can buy a bird from another of our lines so that it acts as both an outcross, and as a linebred
bird to set the necessary missing traits back into your line while invigorating your stock!

3) Recognize that you get what you pay for! Understandably, accomplished breeders who have
carefully linebred birds for generations, providing top nutrition and selectively breeding for health,
visual, and other qualities, are going to set higher prices than what you may find at most pet
stores or from a less knowledgeable breeder.