Buff OrpingtonXNew Hampshire cross

[molegan]

So, I ordered Delaware chicks this year, but the hatchery can't ship them till June, and prices are ridiculous with shipping. I currently have 2 Buff Orpington cockerels, 3 Buff Orpington pullets, and just acquired 12 more BO pullet chicks, and 12 New Hampshire pullet chicks. Does anyone know anything about growth rate or body type of this cross??? I am not interested in color, just body size/type and growth rate. I would love to try other breeds, but this is what I can get my hands on now.

 

[Illia]

It should be the same as the parents. Almost all hatchery birds, especially common breeds like Orpingtons as production-type New Hampshires are relatively fast growers to make for their high feed efficiency and high egg production. So, really, the offspring are likely to grow just as well as the parents, who I'm greatly assuming are around the same weight and growth rate.

 

[molegan]

Yeah, the New Hampshires are a couple of days old right now. I had 2 BO cockerels and one BO pullet weigh 4lbs in the feathers at 12 weeks. I don't know if that's terrible or great, but seems reasonable to me. Wondering what the New Hampshire blood on the maternal side would do to the body type and growth rate. I am not wanting to sell or show, I just want decent sized chickens that I can reproduce myself in a reasonable timeframe. Thanks for any help.

 

[matte]

I had this cross with a NH rooster and BO hens. They were just about what you would think. Most were kind of a ginger color and a little bigger and faster growing than their parents due to hybrid vigor. I didn't keep them long enough to know about their laying or broodiness. The parents were all hatchery stock.