Favorite breed cross?

[ChickenCanoe]

I very much like the concept of cross-breeding my birds. It has multiple benefits. Not only does in make the lineage stronger and more sophisticated, but it is an interesting mystery of genetics and variety.

The vigor is definitely stronger, but it isn't lineage. The lineage was lost with the first cross. They are still mutts whose genetics likely will never be able to be returned to their previous unique genetic glory.
The genetics aren't more sophisticated because they aren't repeatable. That's because they are farmyard mixes (mutts).
Your crosses are all with quite common breeds. I don't have any problem with that. You can always go to any of a dozen or more hatcheries and even more breeders to get more of those breeds.
My problem is with someone getting a couple birds of a breed that may only have 100 birds left in the world and out crossing them.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

The vigor is definitely stronger, but it isn't lineage. They are still mutts whose genetics likely will never be able to be returned to their previous unique genetic glory.

Mutts do have their own unique genetic glory- just not the same as purebreds.

 

[Frog Bog]

My favorite cross was a New Hamp cock over some of my white leghorn hens. Resulted in a leghorn type bird, just a tad bigger than a leghorn(only ended up with pullets, no cockerel to compare). The full rounded breasts at a young age was nice even though they were smaller than the hamps. Eggs were tinted, lots of them, and they went broody the following year.

Why I liked this cross the most? Heavy breasted leghorn that went broody, laid lots of eggs, and had enough meat to satisfy most. May just have been the certain birds, but it worked out nicely.

Would I do it again? No. There are other breeds out there that do the same thing. Preserving or improving those breeds would have a much better impact.