My Spring Breeding Project

[Chookies123]

The days are getting cooler and shorter and I am very excited for spring. I am going to share with you my spring breeding plan. First I need to buy some silkie hens for their broodiness as my light Sussex hens and Silver laced wyandottes are not very broody. When I get a broody I will put some of my fertile ISA brown eggs underneath her. With the chicks I will get a bigger breeding flock then sell all of the other ones to earn some money. I also breed australorps, anconas and plymouth rocks which I will also breed them this spring. I hope this inspires some of you to breed chickens.

 

[earlybird10842]

The days are getting cooler and shorter and I am very excited for spring. I am going to share with you my spring breeding plan. First I need to buy some silkie hens for their broodiness as my light Sussex hens and Silver laced wyandottes are not very broody. When I get a broody I will put some of my fertile ISA brown eggs underneath her. With the chicks I will get a bigger breeding flock then sell all of the other ones to earn some money. I also breed australorps, anconas and plymouth rocks which I will also breed them this spring. I hope this inspires some of you to breed chickens.

That sounds like a good plan!

 

[5 Acre Rooster]

The days are getting cooler and shorter and I am very excited for spring. I am going to share with you my spring breeding plan. First I need to buy some silkie hens for their broodiness as my light Sussex hens and Silver laced wyandottes are not very broody. When I get a broody I will put some of my fertile ISA brown eggs underneath her. With the chicks I will get a bigger breeding flock then sell all of the other ones to earn some money. I also breed australorps, anconas and plymouth rocks which I will also breed them this spring. I hope this inspires some of you to breed chickens.

I may be wrong, so don't go 100% but your ISA eggs are from hybrids aren't they? So you won't get a uniform bird right off. You will get a mixed batch. Unless you bought/purchased hatching eggs from some other source. If your looking to be able to sell sexed chicks you easiest route that I see is to cross your BA over BPR. If you want to keep everything pure that won't work, but ISA are not a pure bird anyway.

And for the inspiration for others, good to see other people trying get more people interested in backyard breeding programs. I love breeding and hatching as a hobby and have 20+ pullets I hatched last year in my flock. Some I didn't even realize until a few days ago. SLW with single comb, and another with BA colored feathers. The fit right in and I had 6 SLW last year so I though it was them. But I guess they were hatch last fall and I have been taking them for pure pullets I had bought. They lay eggs so they stay. Oddly enough I thought rose comb was dominate to single but not 100% I guess.

For breeds I have pure RIR (Some PR also) BO, BA, WLH, SLW and BPR for pure genetics. And Rouen and Pekin ducks. I do let them breed/hatch crosses (Chickens at least) and I do pen some for my specific wants. I gained an Iowa Blue rooster this year with my RIR and WLH pullets. All my adult roosters except 1 are BYM. Mostly male sex links. My pure roosters are still in brooding stage since They were hatched Easter week. So for now my pures I can hatch are BA and also BSL that I can track thru sire at least for now. This fall/late summer will have everything everywhere hatching like mad though...because I can. Good luck on hatching no matter what they are.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Rose comb is 100% dominant over single, but if one parent is single combed and the other parent is split for the rose comb (one rose comb gene and one not-rose comb gene) some of the offspring will be rose and some will be single.

 

[5 Acre Rooster]

Apparently my SLW chicks last year had some sindle comb genetics some where in their ancestry then. Oh well she still a great bird. Her and her sister are colored slightly off with the lacing but great birds for table eggs.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yeah, a few years back I got some that were supposed to be pure for extended black but one had birchen hiding under that. It can be hard to get rid of a recessive gene, but unless you are into a serious breeding program, it's not the end of the world. As you said, great birds for the table, eggs or meat.

 

[5 Acre Rooster]

Yeah I actually purchased them because we wanted 30 or so laying chicks and these rounded out our number. So after these and any of their BYM babies I probably won't be looking to replace anything like these. Just my "normal" DP breeds. And these I can breed from animals I have now.