Egg Layer plan

[Lotsapaints]

I found my good chickens from somebody who said their flock was utility I wanted eggs and meat if they were not perfect for show that was okay I wanted performance. I have beautiful big early maturing chickens who the spare roos dressed out great and my hens who have just started to lay are going great with big ole brown eggs. For Delawares they could be better colored but that's okay I have the barn I'll work on the paint job trying to keep the good qualities I have. You have to start someplace and the hardest part is culling if you go with an American breed use the ALBC suggestions for choosing your replacement stock and culling from the ones you get. From 65 chickens I will cull down to around 6 hens for breeding and 2 roos I still kept more hens for eggs but I separated out the best ones and will trap nest to make sure the hens produce well. I'm sure you can find some good breeders for RIR's use the SOP and the info from ALBC and get started. Have fun and enjoy your birds

 

[kathyinmo]

Quote:
I am not that far from you, and I have a few VERY nice RIR roos. If you are interested you can PM me.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I think Tadkerson's article on sex links is great. It might help you some.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=261208

Just because they are sex links does not mean they are automatically great layers. All them being sex links mean is that their parents have certain colors or patterns (or traits for feather sexing) that lets you tell whether the chick is male or female at hatch. If both parents are good egg layers, you will usually get a real good egg layer, partly because of their parents egg laying traits and partly because of hybrid vigor. Most of the parents of sex links that come from the hatcheries are from lines that are good egg layers so almost all the sex links from the hatcheries are tremendous egg layers.

Not all RIR, Delawares, White Rocks, whatever, are created equal. Many are great egg layers and their offspring will be great egg layers, whether they are sex links or not. You could cross a Delaware rooster and a RIR hen. If both are from good egg laying lines you should get a hen that is as good at laying as any sex link. You just won't know at hatch if the chick is a male or female. But if they are from lines that have not been bred for generations to produce good egg layers, they may not be tremendous egg layers, whether they are sex links or not.

All this does not mean that your plan won't work. I think it will. But you need to try to get the best egg laying stock for the parents as you can. That way, their offspring will probably be great egg layers.

Most hatchery chicks are from lines that are good egg layers for that breed. The hatcheries are in the business of getting the hens to lay eggs so they can incybate and hatch them. The hatchery chicks are not all that good at meeting the standards for the breed. The hatcheries are not in the business of breeding birds that become grand champions at major shows. They breed their birds to lay a lot of eggs and sort of look like that breed they are supposed to be.

If you can find a breeder that has the breed you want and that breeder can assure you they are breeding for egg production, I think that is a great way to go, probably better than hatchery chicks if the breeder is truly breeding for egg production. Not all breeders are breeding for egg production. Many are breeding to get that grand champion at the show. Egg laying ability is not judged. When people talk about the quality of chicks from hatcheries, they are not usually talking about egg laying ability, which you claim is your only priority. They are talking about meeting the standards of the breed, which is a totally different thing. I knew someone who was breeding to develop a line of chickens that had one too many toes. Just because they are a breeder does not mean that they are breeding for something you consider important. Some people get chicks from a hatchery, breed those chicks and sell the eggs as purebred chicks. They are not realy breeding for egg production or anything else. They are just selling eggs or chicks. They may have top quality egg laying chickens. Then again, they may not. If you buy from a breeder, you need to talk to them and get them to convince you they are actually breeding for something you want.

Anyway, this is my opinion on the topic. Good luck however you proceed.

 

[harleyjo]

Kathyinmo---I will let you know but this won't happen until next spring.

Ridgerunner... Thank-you. Our purpose in getting chickens was to help with eggs and meat. I am not in this for showing chickens or anything. Believe me, if I had a farm and could have more chickens I sure would. Since that is not the case I have to keep my goal in front of me. So yes, good egg layers is what I need. You have given me more to think about and direction.