Allowing different types of chickens to breed together?...

[Love2read]

Soooo...I recently got an assortment of 25 different bantams and I plan on keeping at least 2 roosters. With them all being different types of batams(old english, silkies, japanese, brahma, etc...) will that cause problems with any babies that I allow to be hatched naturally?

I didn't really think about that when I got them. *blush* I would really like to let them have chicks naturally, but if it's not safe them I won't.

 

[Love2read]

Also, if the bantams and my large-breed chickens are out at the same time, do I need to worry about them inter-breeding?

 

[bobbi-j]

If you're not particular about breeds, just let them be. I have a coop full of barnyard chicken mutts, and I think some of them are prettier than the purebreds! Your LF (large fowl) and bantams will inter-breed, but again it's not a big deal. I had a little bantam hen and a big Brahma rooster. They were together all the time. I'm sure he bred her at some point or another, but it apparently didn't cause any damage, because she was a healthy little chicken. You'll just get some chicks that may be bigger than your bantams and smaller than your LF chickens. That's the fun part - letting them hatch and seeing what turns out! If you do decide to let your chickens reproduce without interference, you need to have a plan beforehand for what you are going to do with your extra roosters (there will be some), and how many chickens you can handle where you live. What about when your hens quit laying? You also want to decide before that time what you plan on doing with them. How many chickens can you house? How many can you afford to feed? How much work do you want to do with them? All things to consider (and I'm sure there are more, but these are the first to pop into my mind) in your chicken management.

 

[Love2read]

Thank you!

We've already got a backup planned for extra chickens...there's a great little butcher nearby that prepares chickens for a couple bucks each, lol. My husband also has multiple coworkers who are from other countries and will gladly buy up any extra chickens for butchering because they can't stand store-bought chicken here in the US(who can blame them?!).

I would, of course, prefer to home them as pets, but we all know that's not always possible.

I don't plan on keeping all 25 chicks. Once they are a bit bigger and I can sex them and identify each of them, I'll decide which to keep/sell. I already have a few other chicken owners who are interested in snatching up any I decide not to keep, thankfully. I would have ordered fewer, but the site had a minimum requirement of 25 Bantams per order. ><

I'm curious to know what the chicks would be like if a bantam rooster did the dirty with one of my Jersey Giant girls? Would the giant and tiny genes cancel each other out and the babies would simply be normal-sized? LOL

 

[bobbi-j]

That's the fun part - you'll find out when they hatch!

 

[rebcart1905]

Ive been finding old threads on topics that I am curious about, I woke up before the kids this morning and decided to order some chicks! We have our first batch of ducklings on order for delivery in just 3weeks! And I settled on the following breeds for my chickens--- Ameraucana, Buff Orpingtons, Columbian Wyandotte, and Dark Brahmas, I ordered 3 of each female and 1 Dark Brahma rooster.... I am not one for mixed breeding, but curious if some of you have brahmas mixed with "none" brahmas and what the turnout was?

 

[blmack]

I have a rooster who is half Black Australorp and half unknown mixed heritage. He is black with some gold. He mated with my Buff Orpington (gold) and the baby is white. Go figure! She is 21 weeks old now and defitnitely white with just a little black around her neck and black tipped tail feathers. I don't know the answer to your question about your Brahma rooster but my little white hen is a mystery. I'm anxious to see what color her eggs will be.

 

[bobbi-j]

Most of my mutts are Brahma crosses, as that's what my rooster was the last time we hatched out chicks. The result was chickens of various colors (depending on what the hen was), all with feathered feet.

 

[CarolinaHen]

Ive been finding old threads on topics that I am curious about, I woke up before the kids this morning and decided to order some chicks! We have our first batch of ducklings on order for delivery in just 3weeks! And I settled on the following breeds for my chickens--- Ameraucana, Buff Orpingtons, Columbian Wyandotte, and Dark Brahmas, I ordered 3 of each female and 1 Dark Brahma rooster.... I am not one for mixed breeding, but curious if some of you have brahmas mixed with "none" brahmas and what the turnout was?

We have Brahma/EE chicks right now. They are typical EE coloring with the size of the Brahma and feathered feet. Can't wait to see them feather in completely! You will be surprised at how gorgeous your mixes will turn out to be.

 

[rebcart1905]

Awesome! I was so hoping they would be feathered super excited now!