New to chickens, question about breeding.

[BigSkyChickie]

Hi all, I've been lurking here for awhile and decided to jump in.

I have 6 hens and 1 hen who is actually a rooster. Just want my girls for laying purposes, but thought I'd keep the roo around unless he proves to be a nuisance. I was thinking about buying some more chicks this fall or next spring, but then got to thinking, "hey, I have a rooster, why not just grow some chicks?".

I have 2 NHR hens, 3 BOs, and one EE. Will I end up with some crazy mutant birds if I let them hatch some babies next year or is it a common practice?

TIA! Megan

 

[tiki244]

If you want a barnyard mix it is fine, Maybe by nexy spring you will be wanting to get more into purebreds. If you hang around here long enough you probably will. Mixes come up with some cute chicks sometimes.

 

[chicken_boy_Kurt]

first off

and tiki answered your question, yes you can mix them without any downsides.

 

[yoker]

What breed is your rooster?

 

[BigSkyChickie]

whoops! He's a NHR, too.

Thank you for the welcomes and quick replies! I'm actually interested in having more purebreds, but trying not to break the bank on this little hobby....at this point, anyway. I keep almost ordering chicks, then telling myself to wait until spring.

 

[tiki244]

Spring would probably best and it takes just as much feed to feed a mutt as it does to feed a purebred.

I am not trying to sound snotty, I have just heard that before.


It is hard to wait though,,,I know,,,when you want threm soooo bad!!!!


eta; o if you have a NHR roo then you could get NHR purebreds and NHRXBO would be good looking and dont know about the EE but would probably lay green/blue eggs. Sounds like a good mix so far.

 

[chickenfanatic]

sounds like a good plan to me. good luck and

 

[Jashdon]

We have some little mutt's running around and they sure are cute. I noticed that they were very good at foraging right from the get go. They are only about 6 weeks old so I don't know what kind of layers they will be. I have been told by quite a few people on this site that mixed chickens are quite often good at foraging for their own food and can be great layers.

And aside from all that, watching a little chick hatch out of an egg is an amazing experience!

 

[yoker]

You could do purebreds or you could do crosses but only one time so it would be half half.
How big is your coop?

 

[BigSkyChickie]

My coop is pretty big. I've never measured, guess I'd say 9x12 as a lowball estimate. I live on a ranch and the coop's been there forever, but we're the first to raise chickens in a long time. Also, I let them freerange during the day and just lock them up at night.

Out of curiosity, why do you not want to breed mutts? I don't really have any plans to, but would love to learn a little more.