# Breeding Percentages and Calculating them!



## BuckeyeChickens

When crossing fowl it can sometimes get a bit confusing when trying to determine breed percentage especially when multiple breeds are being crossed. Hopefully this will help explain how to keep these percentages straight or clear up how the percentages are derived!

First, let's keep it simple by considering the breeding of one full blood (100%) Buckeye to other chickens of various percentages of the Buckeye breed so we get a general idea before we start looking at more complicated crosses.

In the examples that follow, the sire will always be a 100% Buckeye cock and we won't worry about what other breed the dam or hen is at this time.

Follow these steps:

1. Add the two percentages together
2. Divide by two

Here are some examples:

1. Bred to a hen that is 25%, or ¼ Buckeye: 100% plus 25%=125 divided by 2 equals 62.5%, or equivalent to 5/8 Buckeye

2. Bred to a hen that is 50%, or ½ Buckeye: 100% plus 50%= 150 divided by 2 equals 75%, or equivalent to ¾ Buckeye

3. Bred to a hen that is 75%, or ¾ Buckeye: 100% plus 75% =175 divided by 2 equals 87.5%, or equivalent to 7/8 Buckeye

4. Bred to a hen that is 87.5% or 7/8 Buckeye: 100% plus 87.5%=187.5 divided by 2 equals 93.75%, or equivalent to 15/16 Buckeye

5. Bred to a hen that is 93.75%, or 15/16 Buckeye: 100% plus 93.75%=193.75 divided by 2 equals 96.875%, or equivalent to 31/32 Buckeye

Examples above were simplified by having only parent a mix or cross. What do you do if it is not quite so "cut & dried"? If both parents are cross bred, it still is relatively simple to calculate if you follow these steps:

1. Convert the breed percentages of both cock and hen to eighths.
2. Divide the percentages in half.
3. Add the percentages of like breeds together to find the resulting offspring.

Example:

The cock is ¾ Buckeye and ¼ Dark Cornish. The hen is ¾ Dark Cornish and ¼ Buckeye. Follow the steps listed above.

1. Sire converts to 6/8 Buckeye and 2/8 Dark Cornish. Dam is 6/8 Dark Cornish and 2/8 Buckeye.

2. For the sire, division results in 3/8 Buckeye and 1/8 Dark Cornish. For the dam, the result is 3/8 Dark Cornish and 1/8 Buckeye.

3. Total is 4/8 Buckeye and 4/8 Dark Cornish. If you reduce the fractions, the end result is an offspring that is ½ Buckeye and ½ Dark Cornish. (50% Buckeye and 50% Dark Cornish)

Try another one:

The sire is ½ Buckeye and ½ Dark Cornish. The dam is ¾ Buckeye and ¼ Dark Cornish.

1. Sire converts to 4/8 Buckeye and 4/8 Dark Cornish. The dam is 6/8 Buckeye and 2/8 Dark Cornish.

2. For the sire, division results in 2/8 Buckeye and 2/8 Dark Cornish. For the dam, the result is 3/8 Buckeye and 1/8 Dark Cornish.

3. Total is 5/8 Buckeye and 3/8 Dark Cornish. (62.5% Buckeye and 37.5% Dark Cornish)

The third scenario, while it looks complicated, still uses the same calculations to obtain the percent of crossbreeding. 

Let's work through it:

The sire is ¾ Buckeye and ¼ Dark Cornish. The dam is ½ BBR Game and ½ Buckeye.

1. The sire converts to 6/8 Buckeye and 2/8 Dark Cornish. The dam converts to 4/8 BBR Game and 4/8 Buckeye.

2. For the sire, division results in 3/8 Buckeye and 1/8 Dark Cornish. For the dam, the result is 2/8 BBR Game and 2/8 Buckeye.

3. Total is 5/8 Buckeye, 1/8 Dark Cornish and 2/8 (or ¼) BBR Game (62.5% Buckeye,12.5% Dark Cornish and 25% BBR Game)

Test your knowledge:

The sire is ½ Buckeye, ¼ RIR and ¼ Dark Cornish. The dam is ¼ Buckeye and ¾ BBR Game.

1. The sire converts to 4/8 Buckeye, 2/8 RIR and 2/8 Dark Cornish. The dam converts to 2/8 Buckeye and 6/8 BBR Game.

2. For the sire, division results in 2/8 Buckeye, 1/8 RIR and 1/8 Dark Cornish. For the dam, the result is 1/8 Buckeye and 3/8 BBR Game.

3. Total is 3/8 Buckeye, 1/8 RIR, 1/8 Dark Cornish and 3/8 BBR Game. (37.5% Buckeye, 12.5% RIR, 12.5% Dark Cornish and 37.5% BBR Game) WOW....What would this chicken look like?!?!?

Here's one more example to make sure you really have it:

The sire is ½ Buckeye and ½ Dark Cornish. The dam is ¼ Buckeye and ¾ RIR.

1. The sire converts to 4/8 Buckeye and 4/8 Dark Cornish. The dam converts to 2/8 Buckeye and 6/8 RIR.

2. For the sire, division results in 2/8 Buckeye and 2/8 Dark Cornish. For the dam, the result is 1/8 Buckeye and 3/8 RIR.

3. Total is 3/8 Buckeye, 2/8 (or ¼) Dark Cornish, and 3/8 RIR. (37.5% Buckeye, 25% Dark Cornish and 37.5% RIR)

This formula will come in handy any time you wish to calculate percentages ofbreeds in a crossbred animal. Remember: if the outside influence is less than 5%, this is not genetically significant. In other words, a chicken that is 31/32 (greater than 95%) of a specific breed is considered a full blood.


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## troyer

That is a great post and it's the way I calculate what my crosses are, very informative and educational!


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## Energyvet

Is this printed in a text somewhere? I'm afraid I'll lose it and then won't have it when I need it.


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## BuckeyeChickens

troyer said:


> That is a great post and it's the way I calculate what my crosses are, very informative and educational!


Thanks Troyer....just thought it might help someone someday!!!


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## adobo

Thank you for this explanation, buckeye.


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