Is it safe to breed two green-cheek conures which are half-siblings?

[Melmel411]

Hi I was wondering if it is genetically safe to breed a pair Green Cheek conures that are half-siblings. They have the same father.

 

[Mizzely]

Probably. The Avicultural Society of NSW (ASNSW) - The 'Ins' and 'Outs' of Inbreeding

Selective inbreeding leads to stability of breeding characteristics and uniformity of qualities in successive generations - it reveals hidden characteristics, both good and bad - and it does not produce undesirable qualities in the progeny, but rather concentrates the weaknesses which are already present in hidden form, bring them to the surface where they might be eliminated, either by out-crossing to a train not hindered by that particular weakness, or by weeding out of the breeding stock, birds which exhibit the weakness.

 

[finchly]

but rather concentrates the weaknesses which are already present in hidden form, bring them to the surface

The weaknesses can include shorter lifespan, genetic abnormalities, smaller size to name a few.

Here’s my thinking. How many generations back were they inbred? If you know for a fact the past 3 or 4 generations always were unrelated, it’s “probably okay.” If they were linebred for several generations I wouldn’t chance it.

If they came from a pet store or bird farm they’re probably too closely related.

But before you breed: why do you want to? Are there a lot of green cheeks in rescue in your area? If so please consider not adding to the problem. My shelter has quite a few.

 

[Matto]

It's very unlikely that this would result in any sort of genetic abnormality but it is still better to get unrelated pairs.

 

[Garet]

Why breed these two? You could just find them both unrelated partners and have two healthy breeding pairs instead of one that has a higher chance of producing unhealthy babies.

 

[expressmailtome]

This member has not logged back in at all since posting this thread a month and a half ago.

 

[tka]

My thinking is that, if you're asking this to an online bird forum, then no. You don't have the experience necessary to do this.

If you've been breeding birds for some years, have an excellent mentor, know your line extremely well and can anticipate problems with it, and have an actual breeding strategy with long-term goals, then line breeding may form part of your breeding practices.

 

[Ripshod]

Apparently this member has been here since 2016, and this is her first ever post. She may just be using the forums as a reference but has only now come to something sticky that she really needs help with. Please keep posting the good advice, she's probably reading and waiting for the answer.
@Melmel411

 

[Noah's_Birds]

Don't even dare to do so
Breeders are already having trouble now with genetic material becoming more and more limited, and you should go out and purchase fresh, unrelated, genetic material
The only exceptions I believe that closer related siblings should be bred together, is when a species is in danger of extinction and there is no hope for new, fresh, genetic material (like with our green strawberry's and peters twinspots here in Australia)
Thanks