Bresse Crossed wit Cuckoo Lemon Orpington...........

[CNJ]

In this article they are using a white Cornish rooster paired with a white Plymouth rock hen for the a/b line and a white Plymouth Rock rooster paired with a New Hamster hen for the c/d line. They are using three different breeds to create the fast growing hybrid. I am also using 3 different breeds in my experiment.
https://fareasternagriculture.com/live-stock/poultry/broiler-breeders-and-their-management
I was thinking the Australorp line would help with the summer heat in Hawaii, since its so hot in Australia where they originated from. In addition, I used the Lemon Orpington for its recessive color traits, and I used the Bresse for its fast maturing traits. Bresse hens lay eggs a month earlier than other heritage breeds and roosters reach 5 lbs plus in 4 months.

 

[CNJ]

I have dark Cornish and white Plymouth Rocks just beginning to crow, but the hens haven't started to lay yet. I will use a pure Bresse hen with them for the three breeds in my next project. There are two options, I am leaning towards the second set, since they claim the Bresse chicken is like Kobe beef.

Dark Cornish rooster/white Plymouth Rock hen for A/B and white Plymouth Rock rooster/white Bresse hen for C/D.

Dark Cornish rooster/white Bresse hen for a/b and white Bresse rooster/white Plymouth Rock hen for c/d.

 

[TheOddOneOut]

He was locked up in there by himself about a month. I kept him in there to protect him from my dominant Breese rooster. I hang extra food out on the outside of the cage, so he gets to interact with the free ranging hens daily. But he also gets terrorized by the dominant Bresse rooster, every so often.

Well I can’t blame him for wanting to breed the hen a bunch.

 

[CNJ]

I just put the first set of eggs on lock down, I ended up with 2 fertile eggs from the white cross hen and 1 egg from the black cross hen. The father is most likely from the pure Bresse, I used him because he was bigger and his sister had yellow legs, so his blood isn't exactly pure. I asked Paradise Poultry about the yellow leg and they said their line is from Green Fire farm and they didn't cross it. If these chicks don't have the hybrid growth vigor, I will use my crossed male as originally planned. I also have 2 eggs from my white Plymouth rock pullets/dark cornish cross males that I can put in the incubator for another ABCD mix..

I just heard a chirp they started hatching early.......

 

[CNJ]

I am glad they all turned out with yellow fluff and straight toes. The black cross and the white cross hens were sisters from the same parents. The chick from the dark cross had dark legs and the other two had yellow legs when they hatched. The yellow legs should turn blue in a few weeks, and I am not sure if the dark legs will turn black or blue.
I have about 4 pure Bresse eggs that will hatch in about 5 days. I will use them for comparison.

 

[CNJ]

I don't see anything unusual about the first 3 Breese cross, they hatched on 9/9/21. In addition, I hatched 3 pure Breese for comparison, which hatched 5 days latter. I also have 4 fertile Dark Cornish/White Plymouth Rock eggs in my incubator going on day 11. I am hoping for a white color Cornish Rooster and hen with pea comb. I will mate these to my jumbo Cornish cross females. . I did these crosses to study hybrid vigor and color variations from dominant and recessive genes.

My Jumbo Cornish pullets should be laying soon, since I see them squatting for my dominant Breese rooster whenever he does a shuffle with no resistance. I am not sure if they will eat their own eggs? I let them eat all they want in the am, so I got a chance.

 

[ColtHandorf]

What all are you working with now?

 

[CNJ]

What all are you working with now?

I waiting for my Jumbo Cornish X pullets to lay eggs, they will be 5 months old on Oct 7, 2021. I feed them layer pellets to stimulate egg laying. My white Plymouth Rocks started laying early at 4 months, and they are the same age, so I am hopeful. The first Jumbo Cornish cross mating will be with my dominant Breese rooster. After that it will be with my Dark Cornish rooster, then my white Plymouth Rock Rooster. I have 5 Jumbo Cornish pullets, so I can split them up for three separate breeding groups.

 

[CNJ]

This is how the Dark Cornish and White Plymouth Rock chicks look like after hatching. I am glad I got a chipmunk colored one to confirm the Dark Cornish father. I am looking forward to see if their breast get bigger than their White Plymouth Rock mother. I'll be using this bunch to cross with my Bresse line to nail down the white.

 

[CNJ]

Okay so its been 6 weeks and the first 3 that hatched turned out to be fathered by my Cuckoo Lemon Orpington/Bresse cross, the hen was bred from a Bresse rooster which came from a different farm crossed with an Australorp, so this concludes my ABCD experiment. One of the chicks is white with cuckoo feathers and the other two is white. I don't see any with fast growing hybrid vigor.

The other 3 pure Breese chicks which hatch about a week latter turn out to be all roosters and they about the same size as the earlier 3 ABCD female chicks.

I will keep the biggest rooster and process the rest at 4 months.