Frustrated about the availability of chicks

[OphyliaOrpington]

I'm heritage only. Delawares. Only Delawares. I had a shipment of chicks sent to me of pure BIG heritage Delawares after I got a few from the hatchery a few years ago. Huge difference. Great breed

I'm heritage only. Delawares. Only Delawares. I had a shipment of chicks sent to me of pure BIG heritage Delawares after I got a few from the hatchery a few years ago. Huge difference. Great breed.

I totally considered the Delaware breed. Very pretty birds/good large egg layers. Looks like it was a barred rock and Rhode Island Red Cross. Seems that when you mix a barred Plymouth Rock with any good but flighty/mean prolific egg layer, you get a good calm bird that is also a good egg layer. (I’m sure there is more to it than that.) The California grey I want(ed) are barred rocks mixed with white leghorns. Pretty much the only reason I didn’t go with Delaware instead is to add some white eggs to my basket. Still not opposed to Delawares!

 

[AinaWGSD]

What a beautiful egg basket you have! sapphire gems were on my list at one point! And those are definitely some large blue eggs. Totally worth considering. Who/what breed is laying your large white eggs? Your lightest browns look like my Orpington eggs, but bigger!

Artemis is my white egg layers, she's a cookies and cream hybrid. Hers are my smallest eggs, mostly medium, but except for a few weeks after a sudden bitter cold snap she's been a more reliable layer. We got her mostly for her looks but she lays about every other day. Or she'll lay a few days in a row then take a day off.

The lightest brown eggs are from my BLR wyandotte. The darker brown eggs are from my Rhode Island Red, who is a good layer but surprisingly not as consistent as my other girls. She was the other one who took a break after the sudden cold and the last one to start laying.

 

[SweetieChicken234]

I totally considered the Delaware breed. Very pretty birds/good large egg layers. Looks like it was a barred rock and Rhode Island Red Cross. Seems that when you mix a barred Plymouth Rock with any good but flighty/mean prolific egg layer, you get a good calm bird that is also a good egg layer. (I’m sure there is more to it than that.) The California grey I want(ed) are barred rocks mixed with white leghorns. Pretty much the only reason I didn’t go with Delaware instead is to add some white eggs to my basket. Still not opposed to Delawares!

I'm also after meat. Delawares were the old meat bird back in the 1940s before the Cornish cross. Unfortunately since they fell out of favor they lost size and rate of growth. They are ideal for meat and so after getting scrawny hatchery Delawares that are not ready to eat by 12 weeks I found a breeder. Oh boy.. these cockerels will be excellent meat by 12-13 weeks. The thing is when I hatch I need a purpose for the males. People want to buy pullets and not cockerels. I don't want to grow poor quality Delawares if they will be for meat. I now have good sized males to eat and females to sell for eggs.

 

[Blue Andalusian]

Sounds like so much fun! Why not let your chickens hatch and raise them? Wouldn’t that be easier? Or am I being terribly naive?

It is! Our Broody hen is not Broody Currently, and the eggs are from our Flock. I do like Raising them, by myself. Because it makes me be with them most of the time, then I can have a stronger bond with them. I used to have a Chick named Silver, and for some reason one day. She and I were like best friends, She'd run up to me. And also let me pick her up, hold her and pet her most of the time. She was really sweet

 

[OphyliaOrpington]

Should be clarified that not all hybrids are production hybrids. Most of my flock are nonproduction hybrids (easter eggers), I will always have some in my flock 'cause their unpredictability in color and egg color is fun and they have wonderful temperaments

As for production hybrids, not my thing. I prefer birds that lay a bit less often but lay for longer. I don't need the super high production of production breeds. I do acknowledge they do have their place depending on what one's goals are, i personally have no problem with them, they just don't fit into my goals

Thank you. I am learning SO MUCH here.

Is it correct to assume that a hybrid that can reproduce is not a “production” hybrid?

I am very much referring to the hybrids that can’t reproduce. The ones with shorter lives and health concerns including vent prolapse.

Again, I have 2 Amberlinks. They have been excellent layers. I was dead-set on getting more until I started to research the 4 million breeds of chickens you can get. (Sheesh. It’s overwhelming!).

I’m starting to think that having birds who lay fewer eggs for double or triple the length of time is more economical, more practice, and more ethical — Than getting birds who lay large eggs earlier and almost every day for 4 years, can’t have babies and then die. Gosh that feels like a harsh life.

Didn’t we put chickens in the back yard to make sure we get eggs from happy birds?

But shucks, y’all! Those annual egg numbers sure are tempting!

 

[OphyliaOrpington]

I'm also after meat. Delawares were the old meat bird back in the 1940s before the Cornish cross. Unfortunately since they fell out of favor they lost size and rate of growth. They are ideal for meat and so after getting scrawny hatchery Delawares that are not ready to eat by 12 weeks I found a breeder. Oh boy.. these cockerels will be excellent meat by 12-13 weeks. The thing is when I hatch I need a purpose for the males. People want to buy pullets and not cockerels. I don't want to grow poor quality Delawares if they will be for meat. I now have good sized males to eat and females to sell for eggs.

Nice. I didn’t think we ate the boys?!? I guess a spring chicken is a spring chicken! Who knew? I very much like the self sustaining set up.

 

[AinaWGSD]

Production hybrids can have babies if you have a rooster. They just don't breed true, so any babies are likely to lack the high production qualities that are sort of the point of the hybrids. There is something to be said about focusing on intense productivity not being in the birds' but interest though. Production layers are much more prone to reproductive issues, in part because it doesn't matter much to production if they typically occur after the peak production period.

 

[Iluveggers]

Don’t want to open a can of worms, but I’m wondering how folks feel about Herritage vs hybrid breads? Am I being a silly snowflake to worry that people made these birds and maybe without the best intentions for the birds themselves?

I have a majority heritage breeds, with a few “fun” hybrids like Easter Egger and a Marans mix, along with 3 BYM chicks my broody hen hatched from partially developed eggs abandoned by a broody hen of a neighbor (all pullets, couldn’t have better luck w that!) Last year I added a couple of production hybrids, mainly out of necessity as my family needs eggs all winter (the heritage tend to take longer & longer breaks)…my oldest hens are going into their 4th year and there was a few weeks we only ended up with 5-6 eggs total until the new girls started laying. Am planning to do the same this year. We added a second coop and are keeping 12. I think 2-3 will be production hybrids (or maybe a leghorn or RIR). Figure choosing to have a couple in my flock to have a good quality of life, is better than supporting Big Egg. Not to mention that my Cinnamon Queen & Columbian Rock Cross are two of the sweetest chickens I have ever owned. I used to be totally against production birds, but after a neighbor went 3 months with zero eggs from their 6 heritage breeds & Easter Egger, the reality of what was worse set in…I can’t in good conscience buy eggs from the grocery store for any reason.

ETA: I have an autoimmune disorder that has been under control since making all food from scratch, cutting gluten and many grains, (modified keto), using sheep and A2 grassfed or raw milk products, and limiting eating out to a select few restaurants with good options for people w dietary restrictions. Having eggs all winter has become a necessity but my health has improved so much, knock on wood! If anyone wants more specifics DM me and I’d love to share what has worked!

 

[OphyliaOrpington]

Production hybrids can have babies if you have a rooster. They just don't breed true, so any babies are likely to lack the high production qualities that are sort of the point of the hybrids. There is something to be said about focusing on intense productivity not being in the birds' but interest though. Production layers are much more prone to reproductive issues, in part because it doesn't matter much to production if they typically occur after the peak production period.

Ahhhh!!! Okay. That makes sense.

(I thought the hybrid chicken breeding issue was like mules. Like, it doesn’t actually work for whatever reason.)

 

[townchicks]

Thank you. I am learning SO MUCH here.

Is it correct to assume that a hybrid that can reproduce is not a “production” hybrid?

I am very much referring to the hybrids that can’t reproduce. The ones with shorter lives and health concerns including vent prolapse.

Again, I have 2 Amberlinks. They have been excellent layers. I was dead-set on getting more until I started to research the 4 million breeds of chickens you can get. (Sheesh. It’s overwhelming!).

I’m starting to think that having birds who lay fewer eggs for double or triple the length of time is more economical, more practice, and more ethical — Than getting birds who lay large eggs earlier and almost every day for 4 years, can’t have babies and then die. Gosh that feels like a harsh life.

Didn’t we put chickens in the back yard to make sure we get eggs from happy birds?

But shucks, y’all! Those annual egg numbers sure are tempting!

We are getting a bit far afield from the point of the thread,, but all the hybrid chickens can reproduce, because they are all chickens. Technically, the term hybrid is really meant to be two different species that can interbreed, like a horse and a donkey, and the resulting offspring, a mule, will be sterile. These days, folks often use the term when creating a new "breed" ,for example, the term was bandied about a lot when labradoodles came on the scene. They were called designer hybrid s but really all they were was a mixed breed dog. Any production breed is one that was created to lay more eggs. Egg laying takes it out of a hen, and they often don't live as long as a result. Heritage breeds, are breeds that have been around for decades or longer, and breed true, that the offspring look like the parents and so do their offspring etc. Here's the catch, you can get many Heritage breeds from a hatchery. For example, the Delaware that have been mentioned. Hatcheries breed for volume to sell an many chicks as possible, to make money. They may not care much about health or looks other than it sort of looks like that breed. Kind of like a puppy mill. Not to say you can't get healthy birds from a hatchery, but they are not going to win at a show, or necessarily produce the way another of the same breed would.