Keeping Native Breeds Case studies & Projects Breeding programme puts the Marsh Daisy on the road to recovery Breeding programme puts the Marsh Daisy on the road to recovery In December 2020, the Marsh Daisy Breeders’ Group formulated a three-year plan to rescue the Marsh Daisy chicken from extinction. Breed Registrar Serena Eustice reports on the success to date of this pioneering project. The ultimate objective of the project is to pioneer a system to award pedigree certificates to those birds meeting breed standard using Cloud Lines to record breeding groups and evaluate genetic diversity in the breeding flock. The aim is not only to rescue this beautiful breed from extinction but also to standardise its five colours, increase the public profile of the Marsh Daisy and restore its popularity as an easy utility breed. The project is part of the National Poultry Project, a co-ordinated clan-breeding programme to maximise the genetic diversity of the breed implemented with the support of RBST and the Rare Poultry Society. The Programme involves unprecedented cooperation between breeders, identifying parent birds and progeny using PCGB (Poultry Club of Great Britain) leg rings or wing tags and recording the data onto the Cloud Lines database. Impressive results In January 2021 there were just 39 active members of the Marsh Daisy Breeder’s Group with 460 Marsh Daisies between us. That year there was no attempt to classify the quality of the birds, only to establish numbers (including hens, cocks, pullets and cockerels). There are now over 50 members and most are actively breeding and recording results. That might sound like a reasonable number of birds but the number of potential breeding females presented a very different picture of a breed on the verge of extinction. There are now over 50 members and most are actively breeding and recording results. In just one year we have achieved a growth rate of 40% with a total of 640 birds. A proportion of those are what we class as “garden hens” (not making the breeding grade but a suitable reservoir of the gene pool in the laying flock) but most of that number are breeding or are suitable for breeding as a result of careful selection and culling. There were 21 members looking for birds to start breeding at the end of 2020. All requests have been met and there are just three new breeders of blacks waiting for delivery of birds as soon as avian flu allows. New breeders are needed to take on buffs; we had very low levels of buffs last year but efforts from those that were breeding have created three separate breeding lines from different sources and some interesting progeny to work with on colour and type. Breeding groups will be available soon. For many years there have been serious faults in the Marsh Daisy across all colours: poor comb shape, single combs, poor leaders, poor lobes, legs not green, small eggs, small birds, lots of colour variation (non-standard) and most importantly lack of type with many claiming that the breed does not breed true. Importantly the 2021 breeding season has seen: less incidence of single combs creation of four true breeding lines of browns improvement in size of birds and vigour in the buffs improvement in colour in the buffs improvement in lobe colour improvement in leg colour in the whites and blacks There is still much work to do and there are specific plans this year and for the next three years to improve the standard of the breeding population in each colour. Measurable Objectives In 2020 RBST asked us to set measurable objectives for 2021 so that we could test whether the National Clan Breeding Programme was successful. These are the results: How common are the colours? 2020 2020 2021 objective 2021 actual 2021 objective 2021 actual Marsh Daisy Colour Hens Cockerels Hens Hens ‘21 Cockerels Cockerels ‘21 Wheaten 114 47 200 198 100 76 Brown 51 21 80 97 40 38 Buff 32 13 60 63 30 13 Black 71 48 100 71 50 30 White 43 20 60 43 40 14 TOTAL 311 149 500 472 260 171 A successful programme? So can we say that we are achieving success - yes we can. There were just six active members in the Programme at the start of 2021 and there are now 44, far exceeding our target. Data is being uploaded to Cloud Lines and will be available for all breeders with access to view. Marsh Daisy Colour No of breeders in the programme 2020 2021 objective 2021 results Brown 1 5 12 Wheaten 1 10 17 Buff 0 3 4 Black 2 4 8 White 2 4 3 Total 6 26 44 The National Clan Breeding Programme has demonstrated measurable success across all colours during 2021. Progress in numbers has been hampered in the blacks and the buffs from lack of stock but that is now resolved and we expect to see improvement in numbers of breeders in 2022. However, the whites still struggle with popularity. There has been great progress with our understanding of the sometimes complicated genetics involved and the availability of the Cloud Lines package to record the breeding efforts will enhance the results we are able to achieve in 2022. These results represent a stunning team effort from the Marsh Daisy Breeders. Well done everyone. If you would like to get involved in the Marsh Daisy breeding programme, contact [email protected] The National Poultry Project is supported by Cloud Lines, an innovative web-based software product used to manage, record, and conserve the populations of many mammal and avian breeds.