Chicken Breeding information?

[UBkevy]

I am interested in trying to breed a strain of chicken for my environment and my needs. Does anyone have any good websites with information or suggestions for me. I plan to spend a rather long time planning this out and at the earliest I would start next spring. My goal is an above average large egg layer, with quality meat 7lbs or so, a faster maturing rate, heat and cold tolerance as well as moisture with occasional broodiness and even temperament. A cool egg color would be nice as well haha.

 

[wingsofglory]

Check out the "meat birds" section of this forum. Hundreds of threads of people's experiences and photos of trial birds, results with different mixes, and different purebreds.

To get a meat bird that lays well or an egg layer big enough to dress out at 5 to 6 pounds from 14 weeks to 24 weeks old the meat bird forum section is circling around: Buckeyes, breeder Cornish, Chanteclers, Whitmore Farm Delawares (have been selected over 3 or so years to specifications to improve the breed. Method worth reading: basically its raising at least a hundred each year and only keeping the top ten birds for breeding)

Also threads on mixes. Some have done what you are planning, and sell the finished line now: two are based on the Buff Orpington. One in Texas and is gold base with dark speckles or barring. Another, Bragg Mountain, are gold and lay lots of extra large eggs.

Others keep one breed of large birds, like Brahmas or dark Cornish, and cross them for meat chicks with a fast growing breed like RIR or BlackSexLink. Cross each time rather than develop a breed that does all.

 

[UBkevy]

my first thoughts where going along the lines of RIR, NHR, Australorp, Rock, Delaware, Sussex and leghorn. They all for the most part produce many large eggs, are good in the cold and lay in it, mature quickly and go 6-7lbs. I am interested in Barnevelders, Marans, Hamburgs, Cornish and Jersey Giants for some qualities but am unfamiliar with them.

 

[Oregon Blues]

You have described Silver Appleyard ducks to a T.

Except they are bigger than 7 pounds. They should dress out at 7 pounds, if that is what you meant.

 

[SteveH]

BYC is the place to be.

126 pages of project talk and pictures on this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=316007&p=1

 

[mandelyn]

I would look at what hybrid cross would be best for you, rather than spending all that time on a new strain. Getting all of the qualities to "breed true" in the following generations is the hardest part, and you would need to produce a LOT of chickens, grow them out, feed them, house them.. and then make a selection of them for breeding stock to continue with.

It isn't something you can do with 20 chicks, it's a much larger scale than that to make progress. Over the course of several generations.

Someone mentioned Silver Appleyard ducks. I went with Saxony ducks for the same reason. Big heavy bird, good tolerance, even temperament, great egg production for a duck. I hear not as greasy as a Pekin, but I won't find out for several more weeks when the extra boys are grown.

Bonus, boy ducks don't crow.

2 of my ducks, both girls, are the result of a wild type mallard male over a pekin female. They are MASSIVE, every bit as large as the Saxony, colored like a Mallard, I'm curious to see how they lay. Perhaps in the Spring letting them live with a Saxony male, and seeing what I get out of that as far as a utility duck. That way I could sell more Saxony and eat the crosses myself or something. I found a processor nearby so that I don't have to do the dirty work.

 

[sourland]

Buckeyes come to mind. A smaller comb which would be good in upstate NY. Hardy, non flighty, good producers of medium/large brown eggs and an acceptable carcass for eating.

 

[UBkevy]

from what I read egg characteristics are carried more by males then the females and body is more by the female. So in my head i was thinking taking a Araucana, Maran, Penedesenca, Welsumer or cream legbars Rooster over a white leghorn female then take the best rooster from that cross. then cross it to a hen that is a cross between say a RiR rooster and a Sussex hen. From that I can get a rather fast growing, large bird, with quality meat, that lays many eggs that are an interesting color.

My dream bird would be the body and mentality of a rock (good forager and calm, thick and warm feathers, longer legs and meaty) with RiR (faster growth rate, egg production and egg size), sussex (meat quaility) and egg colors like an EE.