I fancy a docile, not too heavy, clean-footed, cushion combed, cold hardy breed that lays bleach-white eggs. My objective is to get a cold hardy breed for each egg color known by mankind, as one of my rookie dreams is to have a rainbow-egg basket type of flock in my backyard without heat or frostbite problems. But where brown and beige egg layers are abundant in cold climates, cold hardy white-egg layers are rare. Very much so. Which means I have to make my own white egg-layer.
The Chantecler is my first choice for this little experiment of mine, as he is already cold hardy, has the right comb type to resist frostbite, and lays beige eggs. The only thing is, I have no idea if bleaching the egg color of a pure breed is doable (how would I go about selection??), much less how many years it would take me. How would you guys do it?
The California Grey is my next best choice. I like the auto-sexing option the barred plumage gives me, plus the f1 offspring apparently keeps the white egg genes from his leghorn mother. But stacking a cushion comb on this bird could prove a challenge as that means using brown egg parents for the job, and risk loosing the white egg color in the resulting offsprings. I know mating a rose comb chicken with a pea comb bird gives a cushion comb bird, but what parents and crosses are better to ensure I get a cold-hardy, cushion-combed, clean-legged, barred bird that lays bleach-white eggs? How would you guys go about creating this mix from start to finish? Also, since I suspect making such a particular california grey could take a while, it would be great if the resulting hybrid could make more such hybrids so I don't have to start all over again in five or six years' time, so I guess the 'breed true' feature is also a must in this case.
Thank you in advance for all inputs!
The Chantecler is my first choice for this little experiment of mine, as he is already cold hardy, has the right comb type to resist frostbite, and lays beige eggs. The only thing is, I have no idea if bleaching the egg color of a pure breed is doable (how would I go about selection??), much less how many years it would take me. How would you guys do it?
The California Grey is my next best choice. I like the auto-sexing option the barred plumage gives me, plus the f1 offspring apparently keeps the white egg genes from his leghorn mother. But stacking a cushion comb on this bird could prove a challenge as that means using brown egg parents for the job, and risk loosing the white egg color in the resulting offsprings. I know mating a rose comb chicken with a pea comb bird gives a cushion comb bird, but what parents and crosses are better to ensure I get a cold-hardy, cushion-combed, clean-legged, barred bird that lays bleach-white eggs? How would you guys go about creating this mix from start to finish? Also, since I suspect making such a particular california grey could take a while, it would be great if the resulting hybrid could make more such hybrids so I don't have to start all over again in five or six years' time, so I guess the 'breed true' feature is also a must in this case.
Thank you in advance for all inputs!
