Egg layer cross

[macbow]

I have just entered the world of chickens. Got some ISA Browns that are now 3 weeks old. I had no idea I would like the chicken thing so much! We intend to free range our chickens once they get bigger. I would also like to breed a few for egg production. I like what I have read about the Australorps so far. I would like to know if anyone has had experience with crossing a Barred Rock rooster over Australorp hens. From what I have read, I believe they will do well in our weather conditions (1 hr north of Dallas/Ft Worth) I am not too fussy about color of chickens or eggs etc...just egg production. I would like to entertain eating some, but my wife can't get past chicken only coming out of store packets, which makes eating our own chickens a form of murder!

So my question is...will BR rooster crossed on Black Australorp hens have a better than average chance of producing excellent egg layers? Also, just supposing I can educate the wife to the realities of where chicken drumsticks originally come from, will the same cross produce good meat birds?

 

[NatJ]

Black Australorps and Barred Rocks should both be fairly good egg layers, so I would expect that crossing them would also produce good egg layers. If the Barred Rock is the rooster, all chicks will be black with white barring. If you switch things around and use Barred Rock hens with a Black Australorp rooster, you will get sexlinks: males will have barring, females will be all black.

If you hatch your own chicks, you will get cockerels as well as pullets. I assume you know that, and that's why you're asking about them as meat birds.

For meat: any chicken can be eaten, they will grow larger faster than some layer-specific breeds, and they will still look scrawny compared to the ones you buy in the store. The ones in the grocery store are Cornish Cross, and they grow much faster than other breeds. (Because they grow fast, they also eat a lot and poop a lot--just something to be aware of if you decide to try raising them.)

Cockerels grow faster than pullets, which is quite convenient if you're planning to eat them!

 

[macbow]

Thank you NatJ