Crossbreeding Chickens??

[josh1505]

Sorry if this is a dumb question.

Do chickens only mate with their own breed? Or is it common to get a crossbreed (like a mutt dog)?

 

[txchickie]

Chickens are equal opportunity lovers, their love knows no breed boundaries

I have several mixed/crossbred bantams here and they are all ADORABLE and very neat to look at.

 

[Eagle2026]

Cross breeding chickens?
How come I never thought of that?
Well, it's kind of shunned upon in the pure breed community.
I would never, ever, in a million years, do it again!

Have fun,
Just don't flood the market with a bunch of cross bread birds and tell someone there pure. It's very hard on the breed.
Mike

 

[bonnylass79]

Roosters are worse than dogs when it comes to what they will attempt to mate with. I had a rooster try to mount my leg.

I only have one purebred pen. The rest of mine are pretty much mutts, but they grow faster and lay better than my purebreds do.

 

[scooter147]

I love my crossbreeds. I have chickens for fun, yes I enjoy the eggs and meat and I use my eggs as barter especially when fresh fruits and veggies come in.
I believe (have no real proof) that they are healthier then the pure breeds. More genetic diversity.
I do have some pure breeds but most are crosses and I don't have many chickens that look a like.

 

[CaitlynNichols]

All chickens and roos get along with each other. I think when you have a roo mate with a different breed, it's pretty cool when you guess what kind will hatch in the end. We hatched four chicks that were crossed between a Silkie and a White Leghorn (I call them Silkhorns)

It's unique too to see what breed quality they mostly have. Our two Silkhorns have the appearance of a leghorn with a silkie hairdo, yet, they have a lot of silkie in them because they are very broody like purebred silkies. They turned out to be good egg lays too. This is a picture of them; the one in the upper left is Mrs. Beasley, while the one below is Marge.

 

[Daidohead]

Roosters will mate with anything that is receptive. Even other species. Most of the modern "purebred" chicken breeds are ( much to the chagrin of purests ) crossbreeds. It's just that their lines have been cleaned up so that their offspring replicate their parents consistantly.

 

[josh1505]

This is all very interesting. Thank you all for your responses.

 

[Chickiemama1010]

IDK about chickens, but sometimes mutts are the best. I have had 1 purebred dog, she was a handful and very expensive, and as is the case with some purebred dogs, she had hip problems and had to be put down at 2yrs of age, cuz she couldnt walk anymore. I have had many MANY mutt dogs. No issues with any of them.

I think if you have mixed breed chickens that you keep yourself, you might be pleased with them. Natural selection is good. certain traits pass on genetically, and sometimes the best traits are the ones that stick.

Remember, sometimes "purebred" translates to "inbred"
genetic lines are bred and bred into each other until genetic traits are isolated and consistently show up in offspring

 

[josh1505]

I completely agree chickiemama