Are "mutt" chickens any less desirable for eggs?

[grammaC]

We have a rooster that was a "gift" from a neighbor. I think he's a Sussex? Anyway, we have RIR and SLW as layers. None of them go broody, as we had them all about a year before we got the roo. We just got more chicks: black Orps, New Hampshires, and Cochins.

My question is this: If I eventually put the 3 new breeds in with the roo, will it affect egg production or quality because they're different breeds? Similarly, if I let the new breeds go broody, will the "mutt" chicks be good layers?

 

[donrae]

Animals don't see breeds the way humans do. They pretty much know they're all the same species and that's good enough

An offspring is basically as good a layer as it's parents average out to be, if that makes sense. So, saying he's s Sussex, they're moderate good layers. Not as good as the production based Reds, so their offspring may lay a little less than the mommas. He's likely as good as the Orpingtons, so those babies would be about as good as momma. He's maybe better than the Cochin, so those babies will lay better than momma. Does that make any sense?

My flock is a mish-mash of breeds, mostly brown Leghorn, barred Rock and Easter egger. I have some barred, green egg laying hens who lay a lot of large eggs!