Interesting question about hatchery birds. Such a confused event that happens each year when people order chicks thinking they will look like the pictures they see in the catologs or on the internet. The way I see it each pen has say 20 females and three to four males. This is called flock matings. The name of the game is to get eggs and get them to hatch. Thats why they flock mate. Breeders like me have pairs or trios. We do not breed for egg production on the whole we breed for vigor, breed type, color then egg production. If you type R I Reds or Heritage into the Google custom search up in the upper right hand corner you will see lots of threads and pictures of Standard old fashion breeds on this site.
If you want egg production only stay with hatchery chickens. If you want to help keep a old breed from dieing then join our fight to keep the old breeds going. You dont have to show them to help preserve them. Then you can share eggs with other new folks who want say Rhode Island Reds or Plymouth Rocks. bob
