Breeding Good Cross Breed Chickens

[ColetasticChickens]

What is a good idea to cross breed hens with? I have a Gold Wyandotte, Easter Egger, Cuckoo Maran, Rhode Island Red, Buff Orpington, Australorp, Barred Rock
Any Ideas for excellent egg laying?

 

[Rose Quartz]

What is a good idea to cross breed hens with? I have a Gold Wyandotte, Easter Egger, Cuckoo Maran, Rhode Island Red, Buff Orpington, Australorp, Barred Rock
Any Ideas for excellent egg laying?

For egg laying i would cross the BR and RIR if you happen to have a roo of either kind.

 

[sealer39]

A White Leghorn rooster would do the trick. The chicks probably won’t be the prettiest in the world as they will be mostly all white but your egg production should increase. However, any breed specifically bred for egg production should help.

 

[ColetasticChickens]

For egg laying i would cross the BR and RIR if you happen to have a roo of either kind.

I’ll be able to find someone maybe any pics on what they might look like?

 

[Rose Quartz]

I’ll be able to find someone maybe any pics on what they might look like?

I dont have any pictures. Assuming you have a male BR the baby boys will be orange with barring on their wing feathers, and the females will most likely be just orange.

 

[sealer39]

RIR would be a good choice. Just google Rhode Island Red x (your breeds) and you should get plenty of pics.

 

[NatJ]

What is a good idea to cross breed hens with? I have a Gold Wyandotte, Easter Egger, Cuckoo Maran, Rhode Island Red, Buff Orpington, Australorp, Barred Rock
Any Ideas for excellent egg laying?

Are those the breeds of hens you have, or of roosters you have?

If those are your hens, then to produce daughters that lay well--choose a rooster of a breed known for good egg production.

Possiblities could include a White Leghorn, a Rhode Island Red, any of the sex-link hybrids sold for laying--any breed or cross sold by a major hatchery that brags on them being good egg layers.

If the breeds you're listing are roosters you have, then probably the Rhode Island Red or the Barred Rock will sire chicks that lay best, with the Australorp and the Buff Orpington also being good choices.

 

[NatJ]

I dont have any pictures. Assuming you have a male BR the baby boys will be orange with barring on their wing feathers, and the females will most likely be just orange.

I don't think so. A barred rock father should produce chicks that are black with barring, for males and females both. They may have a bit of red in some places, depending on the color of the mother, and they will not be color-sexable the way pure barred rocks are (or the way chicks with a barred mother and not-barred father are.) Of course, that only applies if a rooster is a pure barred rock--if he's a cross of some sort, then some chicks will be black and barred, and the rest are anybody's guess.

 

[NatJ]

For egg laying i would cross the BR and RIR if you happen to have a roo of either kind.

I’ll be able to find someone maybe any pics on what they might look like?

Rhode Island Red rooster crossed with barred rock hen gives black sex links. They would look like the ones sold commercially, but may not lay quite as well. Most hatcheries have photos of some; here's one that has more photos than most I've seen:
https://www.cacklehatchery.com/black-sex-links.html

 

[Amer]

Rhode Island Reds, Black Australorps, and Barred Rocks are all known for their laying abilities.
If you want sexlinks, however, a non-barred male over a barred rock or cuckoo Marans would be a good choice.