BTW, the easiest way to keep a mixed flock but still get purebred eggs out of it would be to find the breed you want to breed....say Rhode Island Red. And so you have a RIR rooster and some RIR hens....you can also get other hens of other breeds, as long as the eggs are different. Like white layers (leghorns, etc), blue/green egg layers (ee and amer.), dark egg layers (marans, welsummer, etc). Then your RIR eggs will always hatch pure, the others can be hatched out or sold as mixed layers, or eggs eaten. If you plan on selling for meat (dual purpose) or just being able to get rid of the cockerels easily, you definitely would want to stay away from the smaller breeds (ie leghorns). BTW, even with my brown layers, I can usually tell which are from my RIR and which from my Cochins and Jersey Giant. The eggs look differnet and the hens tend to lay in different boxes.
If you were planning on hatching out eggs and selling chicks....you could also have a mixed flock where even the mixes would be easily sellable. Like keeping the RIR roo, RIR hens and Barred rock hens. Then you would have purebred RIR chicks, plus sex linked chicks from the other cross. RIR chicks would be reddish, and the pullets and cockerels would be black or black with head spot. All cockerels would be heavy enough for meat, all pullets would be good/great layers.
I have a breeding flock mixed into my regular flock. If I plan on selling eggs or chicks, I will have to separate them. And I would rather just have one big happy flock, so take that into account...whether you want to have split flocks, or if you want a single flock...and if so, make sure you plan your breed choices around it.
If you were planning on hatching out eggs and selling chicks....you could also have a mixed flock where even the mixes would be easily sellable. Like keeping the RIR roo, RIR hens and Barred rock hens. Then you would have purebred RIR chicks, plus sex linked chicks from the other cross. RIR chicks would be reddish, and the pullets and cockerels would be black or black with head spot. All cockerels would be heavy enough for meat, all pullets would be good/great layers.
I have a breeding flock mixed into my regular flock. If I plan on selling eggs or chicks, I will have to separate them. And I would rather just have one big happy flock, so take that into account...whether you want to have split flocks, or if you want a single flock...and if so, make sure you plan your breed choices around it.
