Breeding a meat hen with a RIR roo?!

[baillywagner87]

Alright, everyone... I want to find out if anyone has tried this (Was it a great idea? Was it a terrible idea? Is it worth a shot?):

We have a RIR roo (Little Jerry Seinfeld!) and we got a round of McMurray's big red broiler pullets on Aug 2nd. We decided to keep one to breed to Jerry because they were just so incredible sweet and didn't seem to have health issues. They all grew well and seemed to get around well. The remaining hen is coming around to laying age.

Has anyone tried this? I would love to find out what mix the broilers are to do more in depth genetic research, but I'm sure it's a carefully guarded secret.

All questions, opinions, and perspectives are welcome! Thank you everyone!

 

[MysteryChicken]

I have never tried that but this, but @MysteryChicken knows her genetics

I've never crossed a Broiler to another breed. I only do Heritage, or Heritage type chickens, & make crosses from them for meat.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Those look big! Are they bigger than jersey giants?

* did you make a new breed?*

Big Boy was 15lbs, & 24 inches tall when standing fully.

Big Boy's, Brother was a bit lighter, between 12 ½, to 13lbs. He was a bit shorter too.

The pullets were almost the same size of the cockerels, & weighed about 9 ½ - 10lbs. Smallest was around 8lb - 7lbs.

Not a new breed, but was actually planning on using Big Boy for a new Breed project. But some careless person wrung his neck.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hi. Welcome to the forum from Louisiana, glad you joined us.

Has anyone tried this?

I personally have not tried a cross with McMurray's Big Red Broilers or Rangers in general. I'm not sure if those are comparable to Rangers or not.

I would love to find out what mix the broilers are to do more in depth genetic research, but I'm sure it's a carefully guarded secret.

McMurray is not very forthcoming on what they cross to get those birds. They are obviously not sex links because both the boys and girls are red. In the Q&A they say they are not good for reproduction because they are hybrids, but they don't say why. I know hybrids don't breed true but what part of the recessive genetics would cause a problem? It may be important to what you want to do, it may not.

opinions, and perspectives

If you breed a hybrid you don't get consistent results, whether it is bred to another hybrid or a pure bred chicken. Without knowing what the differences are in their parents you don't know what those inconsistent results might be. It could be something like comb type, eye color, or many other things that wouldn't bother you. But it could be something like final size, growth rate, skin color, egg laying, or something that might be very important to you.

In my opinion if you breed that RIR rooster over the BRB pullet you will get some that you are really happy with and some you are not. The more you hatch the better your chances of getting some good ones. If you breed the best of the ones you'd like to eat and eat the rest, in a few generations you will be hatching mostly chicks you are pretty happy with. That first generation you might get a lot that are not great but that number should go down each generation.

If you are into this for the long haul, this probably isn't a horrible way to start. If you are only interested in the next generation, you are probably not going to be real happy. All this is speculation because we don't know the genetics.

 

[The-White-Elephant]

I have never tried that but this, but @MysteryChicken knows her genetics

 

[baillywagner87]

I have never tried that but this, but @MysteryChicken knows her genetics

Thanks for the networking! Can't wait to see what she thinks and get started!

 

[The-White-Elephant]

Thanks for the networking! Can't wait to see what she thinks and get started!

Me too! @MysteryChicken

 

[MysteryChicken]

The best Meat birds I have produced were a Mix of Brahma, & Easter Egger. Very large, & heavyweight birds, with a decent amount of meat.

 

[The-White-Elephant]

The best Meat birds I have produced were a Mix of Brahma, & Easter Egger. Very large, & heavyweight birds, with a decent amount of meat.

I should try that

 

[MysteryChicken]

I should try that

Here's a few from my crossing.

Big Boy(RIP)

Big Boy's Brother, (Butchered)

Sister(Butchered)

Sister(Kept)

There was originally a total of 10. 4 boys, & 6 girls.

2 of the boys died from Mycotoxicosis, from eating moldy feed. So that left me with 8, so not that bad.