Australorp crosses

[ZachyWachy]

We will be getting a young black australorp rooster soon and will be letting him breed with our hens and I would like to know what to expect from the crosses, such as color, temperament, egg/meat production,etc. We have 1 white leghorn, 1 barred rock, 1 rhode island red, 1 black australorp (hen this time), 3 re sex-links, 2 gold sex-links, 1 speckled sussex, 2 ameracaunas, and 2 buff orpingtons.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

We will be getting a young black australorp rooster soon and will be letting him breed with our hens and I would like to know what to expect from the crosses, such as color, temperament, egg/meat production,etc. We have 1 white leghorn, 1 barred rock, 1 rhode island red, 1 black australorp (hen this time), 3 re sex-links, 2 gold sex-links, 1 speckled sussex, 2 ameracaunas, and 2 buff orpingtons.

Welcome to BYC!

Production wise you'll get good layers from those crosses. Color wise - you'll see various shades of brown from off-white/cream to darker.....are your Ameraucana true bred Ameraucana or are they Easter Eggers (hatchery/retail farm store stock)? Temperament should be fairly middle of the road.
Color - you'll get BA from the BA hen of course and then a lot of mostly black chicks, with some leakage from the RIR, sex links, Sussex, BO. Your barred rock under the roo should produce black sex links. Your white leghorn hen would give you what is sometimes called an "austra-white"

 

[ZachyWachy]

Thank you, the ameracaunas are from a local IFA store nearby; that's all I know.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Thank you, the ameracaunas are from a local IFA store nearby; that's all I know.

Okay - that actually tells us a lot - in that it tells us that you are the proud owner of some Easter Eggers. The good news is, if what you wanted was some pretty/colored eggs, you'll be even more pleased with these than you would have been with true Ameraucana as the EE tend to be much better layers due to the mixing of production breed birds into their breeding. The flip side of that is, because they are a mixed breed bird vs a true bred bird, it is a bit of a crap shoot as to what you will get when crossing them to something else, though with your BA as the rooster you'll likely end up with mostly black with some leakage.

 

[ZachyWachy]

Ok thank you, you have been very helpful.

 

[ZachyWachy]

We just got the big guy! And when I say big, l mean BIG!! I'm surprised at his size.

Step one of the breeding proccess: Complete!