False claims by seller of shamas

I have nothing against people hand-rearing chicks or breeding shamas as a business provided that what they do and say does not adversely affect my reputation or that of the strain of shamas that I have developed over many years.  Unfortunately, I know for a fact that there is at least one breeder (who has only been breeding shamas for the short span of 3 years or so) who is falsely representing to potential buyers that all or almost all the shamas that he breeds and offers for sale, are the progeny of my male birds.

Over the years, I have sold some male shamas, usually those with shorter tails or that I did not need as part of my breeding stock. These males have not been sold as breeding stock but some of them may have been mated by the new owner and may have produced chicks. These offspring are obviously not line-bred and cannot truthfully be described as from my strain of birds as you need to have both male and female from the same strain for this to be so. Indiscriminately mating a male that I have disposed off to an unrelated and possibly mediocre female can hardly result in offspring that have the features and characteristic of my line of birds.

One thing I have notice about these offspring,  to-date none of the longer tailed ones that I have seen have the elegant structure that are characteristic of my birds.  This by itself, is a dead giveaway to the careful purchaser that the offspring are not strain bred from my birds.

I would caution that unless the birds are being acquired from my friends, Michael or Jeffrey, the intending buyer of a shama that is represented as being from my strain of birds should treat such claims with caution.  Both these close friends of mine not only have males and females from me but the birds that they do have are the top of the line and proven breeders.  BTW, Michael hardly sells his shamas and the only way to pry an outstanding shama out of him is to offer to exchange it with a Jambul that he has decided that he must have.  Jeffrey presently has no shamas for sale and there is a long queue of buyers for chicks from his birds.

Perhaps in the future, there may be a third breeder of shamas with birds that have the characteristics of my birds.  This person has recently acquired from me, my male shama, Chilli.  He has paired it to a very female that I have seen and approved of.

Chilli is the son of Pretty boy.  His tails presently likely exceed 14" and he has all the characteristics of my strain of shamas.  He is the only long-tailed son of Pretty Boy that I have sold with the expressed intention that the new owner should use him as his foundation breeding stock.

I hope that Chilli proves to be a prepotent breeder.  I have reason to think that he may be prepotent judging from what his father, Pretty Boy, and his brother, Flame, have imparted to their offspring. I have an arrangement with the new owner of Chilli that if things turn out well and the Chilli pair produce fantastic offspring I will be able to acquire the best of them. The intent, of course, is to cross such a bird back to my birds.

If you are buying a shama and merely intend to enjoy it or to have it produce some offspring for the fun of it without regard to quality, by all means buy the shama that has been indiscriminately bred if it suits your fancy. However, if you intend to develop a desirable strain or hope to produce outstanding offspring from the mating, you should consider carefully if you will be furthering your aim by acquiring the shama to form your foundation stock.  The fact that the seller has seen the need to lie about its lineage in order to make a sale at his high price should give you pause. Surely, it is unlikely that such a bird will have the qualities that are needed to produce the characteristics that you want in the strain of shamas that you hope to produce.