cross breeding? Rooster infertile?

[chicken future]

I'm thinking about breeding silkie cross pekin bantams but i'm worried that I won't be able to sell them after because they are cross breeds. do many people buy pekin silkie cross?

I'm also slightly worried that my rooster isn't fertile. I see him mating with the girls but I don't think i'm getting fertile eggs.
is there a way to know if he is infertile?

 

[HEChicken]

As a general rule, I prefer not to hatch mixed breed birds. As egg layers they may be fine, but if you want to sell, there usually isn't much of a market for mixed breeds in my area.

Some male silkies are unable to fertilize eggs because they have too much "fluff" for things to work correctly. A friend of mine had this issue with her silkie rooster, but had good success fertilizing the hens using AI (not as invasive with chickens as it is with mammals - if you YouTube it, you can get some good information and tips).

If you try incubating a bunch of eggs and none develop it is either that the rooster is infertile, or that he can't get the job done due to the above mentioned problem. At that point you could try AI and see if you have better results when incubating.

 

[chicken future]

Wow! thank you so much for your help!

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

If you don't like the idea of AI, you can also try trimming the feathers around the vent area. Trim below for roosters and above for hens. My Silkies are extra fluffy and they don't require trimming. If you want instant gratification on the fertility front, go crack an egg into a bowl. Have a look at the yolk, somewhere on it should be a white spot. If you see just a dot, it is infertile. If you see a dot with a circle around it (commonly referred to as the bulls eye) then its waiting to be a baby.

I guess I technically breed Cochin (Pekin)/Silkie crosses. I'm working on a Sizzle project and the goal is a normal feathered, frizzled birds that looks like a Silkie in every other way. Its not as simple as just breeding the 2 breeds together and calling them Sizzles, its alot of work selecting for desired traits (read- I don't keep many of the chicks). I have absolutely NO problem getting rid of them. In fact, people snap them up faster than the normal Silkies. The frizzles seem to be most popular, but I think most people just like the idea of something different and pretty for their flock.

Good luck!