Breeding, How do I start?

rainin22

In the Brooder
6 Years
Sep 29, 2013
81
9
33
St. Francis, MN
Hello, I have the following chicks and would like to one day breed them chicks of my own.

Silver Laced Wyandotte
Light Brahma
1 Salmon Faverolle LF Young Male
Salmon Faverolle Bantams
Calico Cochin Bantams, Female and Male
Belgian D'uncle Bantams
1 LF Lavender Orpington Pullet
Polish Black/ White Crest?

so my question is, will I have to separate them in the future to know what is bred to what? I know I ended up with a lot of bantam breeds, but I think it would be great to stick with breeding the the orpington or the large faverolles. I'm just not sure how I should go about things. Would I need to build another separate coop? Everyone is outside in one coop and run right now =)
 
Hello, I have the following chicks and would like to one day breed them chicks of my own.

Silver Laced Wyandotte
Light Brahma
1 Salmon Faverolle LF Young Male
Salmon Faverolle Bantams
Calico Cochin Bantams, Female and Male
Belgian D'uncle Bantams
1 LF Lavender Orpington Pullet
Polish Black/ White Crest?

so my question is, will I have to separate them in the future to know what is bred to what? I know I ended up with a lot of bantam breeds, but I think it would be great to stick with breeding the the orpington or the large faverolles. I'm just not sure how I should go about things. Would I need to build another separate coop? Everyone is outside in one coop and run right now =)

If you want to have purebred chicks, yes you will need to house each breed separately so that you know that only the rooster of the intended breed has covered the hens of that same breed. If you only want to breed at certain times of the year you could construct a breeding pen to be used at those time but run the flock together up until about a month before you want to have pure hatching eggs - at that time you would move the desired birds into the breeding pen (you could even just move the female-s at this point) and all eggs laid for the next month would be used for eating eggs, etc because she would be laying eggs that could have been fertilized by sperm stored in her body that was from any one of the roosters she had been exposed to. After at least a month you could start collecting the eggs and be fairly certain that they were pure (if you had housed only the female during this time you would, of course, have to move the intended rooster in with her and then wait a week or more to start collecting those eggs).
 
Or...........house your males in a "bachelor pad" setting so that they aren't out with the females and are not mating with them. This means you know your females are "clean" of any unwanted sperm. With this approach you could the introduce the male and female of the intended mating and within a week or so have good, fertile eggs of the desired breeding to collect.
 
Thanks for breaking it down! It makes more sense now. I think I'll have to be on the search for either a lavender rooster or some large fowl salmon faverolle pullets.
 
Since you have both LF and Bantams, you might want to avoid housing your LF roosters together with your bantam hens at any time. The small girls could be crushed by such large boys.
 
I am not being sarcastic when I say this. First decide on the breed, and then learn that individual breed.

Yes it will take multiple houses and pens even if it is a single breed. It becomes an operation to do it seriously.
 
If you want to have purebred chicks, yes you will need to house each breed separately so that you know that only the rooster of the intended breed has covered the hens of that same breed. If you only want to breed at certain times of the year you could construct a breeding pen to be used at those time but run the flock together up until about a month before you want to have pure hatching eggs - at that time you would move the desired birds into the breeding pen (you could even just move the female-s at this point) and all eggs laid for the next month would be used for eating eggs, etc because she would be laying eggs that could have been fertilized by sperm stored in her body that was from any one of the roosters she had been exposed to. After at least a month you could start collecting the eggs and be fairly certain that they were pure (if you had housed only the female during this time you would, of course, have to move the intended rooster in with her and then wait a week or more to start collecting those eggs).

Hello, I have the following chicks and would like to one day breed them chicks of my own.

Silver Laced Wyandotte
Light Brahma
1 Salmon Faverolle LF Young Male
Salmon Faverolle Bantams
Calico Cochin Bantams, Female and Male
Belgian D'uncle Bantams
1 LF Lavender Orpington Pullet
Polish Black/ White Crest?
Hi,
You have a lot of complicated patterns there. Best to pick one breed of a simple color to start.
I know the colors are enticing. The Light Brahma is probably the easiest color to breed of those on the list. There are some stunning stud cocks out there in the Light Brahma fancy. Find one and breed it to your hen. Then breed the daughters and grand daughters and great granddaughters back to him for 3 generations. The breed the best daughter back to a son of the original cock. This is a time-tested method for improving your stock. By the time you get thru the 4th generation, you will be experienced and knowledgeable about your birds and that breed and be able to continue on your own.
Her is a wonderful book by a noted veteran poultry man. Tho it was written many years ago, it is about fact, not opinion. These are breeding laws, not opinions or theories.
https://archive.org/details/cu31924003158312
Best,
Karen
 
Thanks for breaking it down! It makes more sense now. I think I'll have to be on the search for either a lavender rooster or some large fowl salmon faverolle pullets.
Faverolles are a difficult breed. Where did your male come from?
 

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