MalSabreur
Chirping
- Apr 19, 2023
- 62
- 215
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Several years ago I got day old Sasso chicks, 10 "White Ranger" and 10 "Gauloise." I don't know what the US names for these would be. Anyway, about the time they were ready, my wife developed breast cancer and despatching them stopped when we still had a few of each left so they went in with the layers. The eggs were big and beautiful but best of all were the crosses we got. One of the white cocks was put in with a Bressé hen who had lost her mate and the results were like their mum only much bigger and tasted just as good as Bressés. The Gauloises, which were brown produced really good table birds that were, if anything, even better tasting table birds than the White Ranger Bressé crosses with dense, finely rextured flesh.We have been talking about trying our hand at various meat birds for some time, but we currently just have a laying flock of Australorps and Welsummers. A friend has offered us a rooster, which might be nice since we haven't been able to free range our birds as much as we would like, following a predator attack.
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The rooster would be a Sasso Rooster (or possibly a "homegrown" white rooster of anyone's guess stock). Assuming there's no real genetic benefit to taking a beautiful white mixed breed rooster, what would happen if we were to breed the Sasso with our layers for a dual purpose terminal cross?
I feel like the Welsummer might be the most desirable cross in terms of similar coloring and nice dark, speckled eggs from the hens. I don't know how the Australorp cross would turn out, looks wise; like a mess of black, red, and possibly barred mutts???Does that even matter?
I think the only way to get sex links is if we were to hypothetically take a couple of their Delaware (or any white / silver) hens to breed him with for the red over white/silver sex linkage. (Or they would have to go ahead and set up their own breeding pen for that, which they have a farm, they have just never intentionally bred or hatched chicks before.)
The other issue with some of these other crosses becomes logistical for me, because it's very easy to let him be out with the girls while I just check for fertility and collect only the Welsummer eggs. But if I were to introduce any Delawares or SLWs to the existing flock, their eggs would be more or less indistinguishable from my current Australorps, correct? So about the only way for *me* to get sex links, is to relegate him to a breeding pen with new (to me) white / silver birds, which is 1. A whole lot Harder and 2. Defeats the purpose of letting him range with the flock.
Any members with more experience than I have want to weigh in? I'm all ears.
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[Disclaimer: Birds pictured are not my own. I'm only including the Delaware and SLW because I *think* she has both of those hens in her existing flock, so it might hypothetically be a possibility as well. ETA She has only Delawares and Welsummer hens, relevant to the conversation.]
The main problem was crooked feet with some of them, but this was a problem with some of the original Sasso birds anyway. What I would say would be that if your birds are nothing out of the ordinary as table birds, give them a go, you will be pleasantly surprised.
. Much appreciated!
