# Breeding brother to sister



## Pigeonfan94

Hey everybody. i am new to this site and am posting my first question!!! yay! lol. any way I was just wondering. I have heard that you can breed brother and sister with usually no genetic problems or anything, but for how many generations can you keep breeding brother to sister before you get some birth defects?


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## sreeshs

Welcome to the club  Now, I have had pretty bad experience breeding brother to sister, the squabs where not at all healthy but in my case the brother and sister was from the same set and where paired to produce young ones before they were 6 months old. So it may depend, even if they are brother and sister, on the hatch set and age of pigeons


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## sky tx

Why do you want to breed Bro/Sis??? are they very good-proven birds? For line breeding to keep the bloodline?
I would not risk it for racing.


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## Crazy Pete

Father to daughted, mother to son would be better. Rotondo says not to do it, so I don't.
Dave


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## showracer

G'Day M8

I breed B/S with my showracers and racing pigeons no probs


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## george simon

showracer said:


> G'Day M8
> 
> I breed B/S with my showracers and racing pigeons no probs


*Hi SHOWRACER, Welcome to Pigeon Talk. Do you have Show Racing Homers or American Show Racers? I have ASR's* GEORGE


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## drifter

It is not a good idea to breed brother and sister together. They are 100 percent related to one another. Any genetic weakness they have will be doubled. In some cases the weakness will not be visible but will show up later in their offspring,or as health problems. I have no experience in breeding pigeons but I do have experience raising parakeets and poultry. Many people have bred brother and sister together with no apparent problems, but I would not do it.


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## M Kurps

I do not have any personal experience with mating Bro/Sis or Pop/Dau. or Mom/Son but do recall that the white pleitynx strain was ruined of their homing ability by inbreeding,if i'm not mistaking.I would never do it.
Kurps


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## Birdman79

Mother/son,father/daughter is the closest i'll go.


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## re lee

M Kurps said:


> I do not have any personal experience with mating Bro/Sis or Pop/Dau. or Mom/Son but do recall that the white pleitynx strain was ruined of their homing ability by inbreeding,if i'm not mistaking.I would never do it.
> Kurps


That would not have ruined the birds. BUT uncontroled balanced breeding would have Far as brothere sister pairings You look at how those two Birds would complinment each other. And know you would be keep the same gene make up in there young. BUT then there young would be futher bred down the line say henns line Which at this time would be grandmother. Or cocks line. Brother sister is as tight as you want to go Any line inbreeding has to be controled to offset problems down the road. And bring in fresh blood from time to time. NOW for race birds this can still hold true Then out cross family lines for performance. Some breed lines have been cultivated for many many years Trace lines back over 50 years BUT balance was looked at bringing in family out cross not keep the line to tight.


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## MaryOfExeter

I would steer away from it. Line breeding is better, in my opinion. But if you have no choice but to inbreed, I'd got with mom/son, father/daughter. Brother to sister isn't always bad, but they better be pretty darn good birds. In my old birds, which I let mate up however they'd like, I've had brother sister pairings happen. I don't mind it in that case, since I'd rather not try to break them up and repair. I haven't found any mutations or health problems yet. I wouldn't want to continue s/b inbreeding any farther than that one generation.


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## spirit wings

Pigeonfan94 said:


> Hey everybody. i am new to this site and am posting my first question!!! yay! lol. any way I was just wondering. I have heard that you can breed brother and sister with usually no genetic problems or anything, but for how many generations can you keep breeding brother to sister before you get some birth defects?


If your into breeding, it is best to pick mates for your birds to improve the breed, that is the whole point in breeding. If you are just keeping bird as pets for non breeding then bro/sis pairing up is fine as you would not be letting the eggs hatch anyway.


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## Big T

Pigeonfan94 said:


> Hey everybody. i am new to this site and am posting my first question!!! yay! lol. any way I was just wondering. I have heard that you can breed brother and sister with usually no genetic problems or anything, but for how many generations can you keep breeding brother to sister before you get some birth defects?


Well, I have all white birds and go thru great pains to keep from imbreeding. Along with AU bands I use colored, numbered bands to know who's baby is who's. I swap birds with others across this country to add new blood, and I separate any pair that is brother and sister. Your call, but do not just do it to do it, keep records and measure results. 

Good Luck,
Tony


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