Can different breeds make mutts?

[TeresaT]

I have silkie chickens, they are not of egg laying age yet, actually it is still hard for me to tell if they are roos or hens. I have 6 of them, all white. I just got a male and female pair of Silver Duckwing OEG bantams. Can I put them with the silkies? If I do, will my Silver Duckwing OEG mate with my silkies? Is that even possible? Will they make mixed chicks? Or does it not work that way. Just looking for advice on that issue.

Also, I have 5 New Hampshire reds in another coop with one rooster. Would they all be able to be in the same coop area one day? When we let them free range, we sometimes give the silkies some free range time when we can watch them (in case a hawk or eagle gets them) and the NHR sometimes peck a them. Or, would it be best to keep them all separate?

Thanks for your help.

 

[crazychicken]

yes they will and can make "mutts" . personally i do not have a problem with it i do it myself i hatch my eggs and get a surprise out of them each time.

you can possibly put them together but it depends on the birds i hatched in my last batch one hen that i kept and when she got old enough i put her in the big pen but her own parents shunned her and bullied her. and then one night a surprise cold snap hit and she died. and we cried for weeks

 

[TeresaT]

Well, I like surprises. Would you get one breed or another? Or is it possible to get a fuzzy looking OEG? That would be great! Or do they just come out looking like either a silkie or an OEG? And then, if it comes out looking like an OEG is it purebred? Or, could it possibly make another silkie if it mates with another OEG? Sorry for so many questions, I am trying to understand how this works. Thanks for your help.

 

[TeresaT]

Oh, sorry to hear that about the poor girl. I would have to do it slowly and watch them closely. My NH Reds are pretty territorial too. I had to separate on of them b/c they were injured and when I put her back after she was all better they picked on her, they still pick on her a little bit. And they lived together already for several months. But nothing dangerous.

 

[snowydiamonds]

Its like when people allow indiscriminant breeding with dogs, you never know exactly what you'll get- if you're okay with that, then so be it, mutts are mutts, they are not ever going to suddenly become purebreds.

I've recently collected and hatched certain birds to get what I want for our cold weather and my needs/wants. I want big bodied bantams that lay big eggs and forming two separate flocks. One flock is very like a bantam Buff Orpington and/or Buff/Red Wyandotte bantam that lay brown eggs. I'm using this roo and these two hens as the main breeders: Roo on the right

Wyandotte banty

Buff Rock and Wyandotte banty, both

The other is a white egg layer flock, same body type but using Andalusian hens, Black Rosecomb hen, White Rosecomb hen and a very young roo from a friend:

so far, this flock has two blue chicks just hatched today and last night This flock does not have the body type I am looking for and the egg layering is not as reliable or as often as the brown egg layer flock. This flock would need me to do a lot more in order to get what I want, eventually...but I couldn't give up "Biker Boy" the young roo, so he got his own small flock.

I know I'm getting mutts from this, I don't expect the mutts to reproduce anything other than mutts in the future if I continue on this project.

I've also hatched out LF chicks which are either the Andalusian or Black Ee roo's crossed with RIR or BLRW. My Andalusian roo was too territorial and getting frostbit. The Ee roo is too rough on the ladies and he's beautiful. I wanted some of their genes since one is now in the freezer and the other going there this weekend at the latest. Same thing there, mutts. Hope this helps.

 

[Opa]

Sometimes the prettiest chickens are the surprize mutts.

 

[redhen]

Quote:
SEE!..this IS why i love you opa!...

....i cant wait to start hatching some of my mutts!...

...

 

[Opa]

Why thank you ma'am. We should never get so serious that we can't enjoy the joy of the moment. Good luck with your hatchin'. Sam

 

[TeresaT]

Thanks for all the answers and the great pics. I feel more comfortable putting them together now. If I want them to produce pure bred, then I just keep them separate for a few weeks in separate coops (I just read that in another thread). So, once my silkies start laying, this will be very interesting. My silkies are only about 4 months old and the silver duckwings (I was told) are about one year old. I just got them last Friday so I have them in quarantine until their health is confirmed (but they look great). Thanks again. Any additional input from people and examples is still appreciated. I am still new at this so hearing different peoples experiences and seeing pics of their setups and chickens really helps.

 

[conny63malies]

They sure will. I used to own a OEGB x cochin cockerel