Black sexlink rooster x black australorp hen

Jan 19, 2021
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I have 10 black australorp pullets which will be laying by spring. I am thinking of breeding them to a black sexlink rooster. I know the black sexlink rooster is single barred and will pass the barring gene to half of his offspring. I was thinking of crossing the resulting barred offspring together to get a true barred male and barred females. My question is would this make a good duel purpose chicken as far as eggs meat and maybe broodiness?
 
I think the answer to your question is yes... with some variance in the offspring of course. You have a good chance at getting a good dual-purpose chicken because the Australorps are a nice, heavier breed that still lay lots of eggs and the black sex-links have excellent egg-laying and a good meat frame in their background (that comes from their RIR sire). I would recommend hatching a fair number of this cross (25 or more) and then selecting the biggest barred birds for your next mating. As for broodiness, the best way is to look at which birds have been broody in the past and select those for mating. Australorps in general have a slightly greater tendency to broodiness, BSL not so much. So it will be rather hit and miss I think.
 
I think the answer to your question is yes... with some variance in the offspring of course. You have a good chance at getting a good dual-purpose chicken because the Australorps are a nice, heavier breed that still lay lots of eggs and the black sex-links have excellent egg-laying and a good meat frame in their background (that comes from their RIR sire). I would recommend hatching a fair number of this cross (25 or more) and then selecting the biggest barred birds for your next mating. As for broodiness, the best way is to look at which birds have been broody in the past and select those for mating. Australorps in general have a slightly greater tendency to broodiness, BSL not so much. So it will be rather hit and miss I think.
Thank you! It's just a general wondering I had. I'm also in the works of another breed project. I have been working on developing my version of a RhodeOrp (Rhode island red x Buff orpington). What I have done I first bred a rir rooster with buff orpington hens then bred those pullets with another rir rooster which gave my a nice rooster I'm gonna breed back to buff orpingtons. That will give 5/8 buff orpington and 3/8 Rhode island red. Later I plan on breeding in the barring gene to make them auto sexing. I'm looking to breed a chicken with the foraging abilities, high egg production and large eggs of the rir and the large meaty body, gentle disposition and broody instinct of the buff orpington and is also auto sexing
 
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High egg production and broodiness are traits that don't go together because a hen that goes broody stops laying eggs while sitting on the nest and raising the chicks.
I understand that. But I'm not looking for 300+ eggs a year but I am looking for a decent egg layer maybe 200-220 a year with a tendency to go broody and I know that they are several breeds that can accomplish that for I have several breeds right now that does and have had these breeds for 15 years but I was just genuinely curious as to what everyone else thought and thank you for your response.
 
Thank you! It's just a general wondering I had. I'm also in the works of another breed project. I have been working on developing my version of a RhodeOrp (Rhode island red x Buff orpington). What I have done I first bred a rir rooster with buff orpington hens then bred those pullets with another rir rooster which gave my a nice rooster I'm gonna breed back to buff orpingtons. That will give 5/8 buff orpington and 3/8 Rhode island red. Later I plan on breeding in the barring gene to make them auto sexing. I'm looking to breed a chicken with the foraging abilities, high egg production and large eggs of the rir and the large meaty body, gentle disposition and broody instinct of the buff orpington and is also auto sexing
Sounds like a great project! (I'm biased to heavier birds ;p) Good luck with your breeding!
 

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