Are there any plain ol' chicken owners here?

[rooster0209]

Yea, you all count.

There is alot about purbreds and I just wanted to know if anyone had "chickens". Mine were a surprise when they hatched to see what I had. Now as they are feathering out, its really neat to see their colors.

I think its going to be really fun to have them running around the yard with the guineas

 

[opihiman911]

started out with pure RIR, then someone gave me a pure bred austolorp and barred rock roos. Now I have a bunch of "plain 'ol chickens" who are 5-6 months old and just starting to lay. Any chicken is accepted in my coop as long as they give me a couple eggs per week.

Cory

 

[Davaroo]

Over here.

Im one of the "plainers."

I reckon a chicken should look like a chicken, not some pompadour crested foo-foo or failed science experiment.
Chickens are either interesting or silly enough (depending on your viewpoint) on their own. They dont need embellishment. That is sort of.... well, there it is.

Also, IMHO, chickens should be kept in single breed 'colonies'. The whole "chicken aquarium" mindset is counter to preditcable results. This is an old rule from times gone past, one of the Prime Directives for successful chicken keeping.
Everything from better disease control to birds that actually improve in traits can be the outcome of this one bit of dogma.

And the mundane breeds have had years, centuries even, of development behind them. Well selected, they are nearly self regulating.

Simplicity with few surprises are my watchwords. It's boring and pedestrian, I know, but it works.

So, yeah, Im a "plainer."

 

[FloridaChickenChick]

Plain old chickens? Heaven forbid!

EVERY SINGLE ONE OF MY GIRLS IS EXCEPTIONAL!

 

[wendy]

Uh, I am a plan ol' gal, but I don't know about my chickens. They are fun to watch especially when I give them treats or table scraps. And when they free range and go wild because one of them found something and flap there wings running across the yard to see that! Well that is not plan at all! lol!
Oh, we get lovely brown eggs from all of our chickens

 

[FLchook]

I love barnyard specials!!!! There is nothing more exciting then waiting to see what the chicks grow into!! Some are stunning, others look like they were pieced together from a couple different parents

Until recently, my entire flock were mixed breeds. But when a coon broke into the coop one night and had a buffet, I had to start over. I bought some buff orps, barred rocks, and americanas. I have also aquired some other mixes too though.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

I've got a mix. 3 Black sexies and 2 RIR's from last year. Bought 12 chicks from a feed store. Just like the colors didn't know what they were. All but 1(maybe 2) ended up being a roo. I've given them all away but 4. 1 EE roo, 1 what I'm thinking is a partridge rock roo but not real sure, 1 Golden Laced Wynadot and a Black giant. Got another 7 at another feed store. (wanted 6 but the hubby brought home 7 because he said the one would be lonely!) They are Red sexlinks. One of those turned out to be a roo too! I think I like my Black and Red sexlinks the best. Even though the GLW has beautiful coloring and so does the EE roo, The Blacks are irridescent (sp?) and just glisten in the sun light. Each one of my Red sexies is marked differently. One with a bit more white or red than the other with some real pretty lacing on them.

I thought I wanted a flock of all different breeds and colors....seems I like them most when they are as plain and simple like me

 

[dacjohns]

I take what I can get. Let them do what they want with who they want. Got 15 little barnyard mutts running around right now. Don't know what the father is and don't know which birds the mothers are. Just know who sat on the eggs. Some of them have bantam in them (don't know what kind of bantam) some of them don't.

Have some hatchery birds too. Easter eggers, Light Brahma, and I don't know what else, some are black and some are white. It was one of those hatchery specials.

Plain enough?

 

[skeeter9]

I think I qualify! I've got a couple of breeds that I keep separated to keep the bloodlines pure. Other than that, my laying flock is just made up of miscellaneous hatchery birds - all of which look like chickens. I'm one of those who prefers the classic chicken look!! The only actual mutt I have is Rusty, the roo in my avatar. He's a cross between a Silver Pheonix and a Red Star (I think that's it - I'm having a brain fart right now. . . .). So, yeah, I'm pretty much a regular old chicken person.

Hey, David, I've got a question for you. I get what you're saying about keeping breeds pure, etc. In your research have you come across any evidence at all that mutts are generally hardier than pure breeds? I'm just thinking about the hardy mutt dog thing. . .

Lori

 

[Davaroo]

Hey, David, I've got a question for you. I get what you're saying about keeping breeds pure, etc. In your research have you come across any evidence at all that mutts are generally hardier than pure breeds? I'm just thinking about the hardy mutt dog thing. . .

Uh, not really. Here's what I think I know.

For most people "mutt" means random - no selection, no thought to breeding or concern for trait retention.
I am not referring here to feral birds that escape into the wild, adapting to a wild existence. Nor those that are basically left to fend for themselves, without care. They become "hardy" by virtue of their wild state.

See, mixed blood does not have to mean scrub. But, to achieve hardy birds, or ones that lay blue eggs or whatever AND which breed those traits into their progeny, one has to work at it. It doesn't just happen. Most accounts say it takes at least 5 years to achieve reliable results.

Every desirable trait that is in the domestic chicken, from hardiness to size, was bred there on purpose. That is your one assurance that the birds will continue to produce as you wish, dependably. This is why the stress on keeping only a single, pure breed has stood the test of time.

But, if trait selection isn't pursued rigorously into suceeding matings, the strain begins to revert back from whence it came. This allows those undesirable genetic traits bubbling just under the surface to mingle, even supplant, the more desirable ones.
(This happens in pure stock, too, and is called atavism, or reversion. However, it takes much longer to take hold in pures and can be averted through careful matings.)

When this 'watering down' occurs in non-pure stock, the result is a gradual decline in desirable qualities. In other words, they become scrubs, the epitome of mutt-ness.​