Future breeding... who should we not eat? :)

[momofthehouse]

These are the breeds I am getting. I will list a male if I am getting a male. I would like to know how to keep a rotation of good egg birds going and a rotation of good meat birds going with these breeds I am listing. A couple I got just for fun so will mention beside the breeds which ones. Let me know any thoughts and opinions and tips on breeding to keep my process going. I dont plan on selling breeds just want to never have to buy chicks again and just hatch my own Also would like to just keep some around because they are hard to come by as well. Some came from a breeder and the rest are from cackle and ideal hatchery.
Breeds:
*Silkies (Male and female-from a breeder) These are for hopefully broodiness
*Cream Legbar (Male and Female-from a breeder) I like the teal egg colors but would like to breed these as well.
*Buff Cochin (Not sure on sex. getting a straight run)
*Golden Laced Wyandotte ( Females only)
*Easter Egger (Females Only)
*Brown Leghorn (Male and Female)
*Black Australorp (Male and Female)
*Black Sex Link (Females)
*White Jersey Giant (Male and Female)
*Blue Maran (Male and female-from a breeder)
*Cuckoo Maran (Male and female)
*Salmon Favorelle (Male and female)
*Black Copper Maran (male and female-from a breeder)
*RIR (Male and female)
If you want to post longer than a comment feel free to also message me. I did get all these so please dont tell me that I should or shouldn't get a certain breed. I did research and picked these for reasons whether it was meat, egg production, kindness cause I have kids or I know the breed already and liked it.
Thanks in advance for those that take the time to read my novel!

***Side NOTE: I posted this on the wrong thread at first but got some insight such as seperating the girls that I want to breed and putting them with the roo I want them to breed with for a few weeks. I can do that easily. Time frame for doing that to get the proper breed?

Half of these we will eat but I wanted to see what breeds I enjoy the most so I went all in. They are all around the same age. (A few weeks difference for a few of them is all)

 

[momofthehouse]

Can I mix any of these breeds together and get a better egg or meat bird?

 

[donrae]

You're going to have a nice mix of birds there!

One of my favorite crosses was a brown leghorn and an Easter egger. I don't know if I just got lucky, but I got hens that laid a ton of huge eggs like a Leghorn, and they were light blue or green like the EE. That was my favorite cross for a few years....but then, the cockerels from that cross aren't very meaty at all. It's a trade off.

You could run two "strains", so to speak. I'd breed the Leghorn rooster with the EE, the bsl and the Leghorn hens. Those will be your laying birds, but not so much on the meaty side. You could also use the Aussie hens with him, for a more balanced bird. For some reason I totally spaced your CCLs, they'd be a good production bird to mix in this category also.

Your best meat birds of that will be your Marans, Reds, Wyandottes, maybe the Aussies. Some Faverolle cockerels get pretty good size, too.

Your Cochin and Giant birds will add size, but the Cochins aren't especially meaty and they both take longer to mature. So, you'd get a bigger bird crossing say a Giant and a Marans, but instead of it reaching full size at 5-6 months, it may take 7-8. It's up to you how important that is.

If you want to play with sex links, you have a few options...

your cuckoo Marans and cream Legbar hens under any of your males except the Legbar, white Giant or cuckoo Marans will give you black sex links.

Your Faverolle hen under either your RIR or brown Leghorn roosters should give sex link chicks.


For purity of breeding, at least 2 weeks is advised. If it's of absolute importance to have a specific rooster father the chicks, I'd say wait up to 3 weeks after the hen was last exposed to an undesirable rooster. Hens store sperm internally for a good 2 weeks, sometimes more.

Sounds like you've got a great flock coming! Have fun playing with them, and remember there's no wrong crosses with chickens---you can simply eat your mistakes

 

[momofthehouse]

You're going to have a nice mix of birds there!

One of my favorite crosses was a brown leghorn and an Easter egger. I don't know if I just got lucky, but I got hens that laid a ton of huge eggs like a Leghorn, and they were light blue or green like the EE. That was my favorite cross for a few years....but then, the cockerels from that cross aren't very meaty at all. It's a trade off.

You could run two "strains", so to speak. I'd breed the Leghorn rooster with the EE, the bsl and the Leghorn hens. Those will be your laying birds, but not so much on the meaty side. You could also use the Aussie hens with him, for a more balanced bird. For some reason I totally spaced your CCLs, they'd be a good production bird to mix in this category also.

Your best meat birds of that will be your Marans, Reds, Wyandottes, maybe the Aussies. Some Faverolle cockerels get pretty good size, too.

Your Cochin and Giant birds will add size, but the Cochins aren't especially meaty and they both take longer to mature. So, you'd get a bigger bird crossing say a Giant and a Marans, but instead of it reaching full size at 5-6 months, it may take 7-8. It's up to you how important that is.

If you want to play with sex links, you have a few options...

your cuckoo Marans and cream Legbar hens under any of your males except the Legbar, white Giant or cuckoo Marans will give you black sex links.

Your Faverolle hen under either your RIR or brown Leghorn roosters should give sex link chicks.


For purity of breeding, at least 2 weeks is advised. If it's of absolute importance to have a specific rooster father the chicks, I'd say wait up to 3 weeks after the hen was last exposed to an undesirable rooster. Hens store sperm internally for a good 2 weeks, sometimes more.

Sounds like you've got a great flock coming! Have fun playing with them, and remember there's no wrong crosses with chickens---you can simply eat your mistakes

This is great information! Thank you! How long do they have to stay together after the 2-3 week marker has passed? Any of these breeds I should just eat and not worry about keeping around? I like the idea of having some meat birds take long so we know we have future meat birds so I am ok with that as well. Would span it out well.

Another question when can they breed? (as soon as eggs are being laid?) I am hoping I end up with a broody hen maybe one of my silkies unless they turn out to be boys ha! If not I will look into incubation.

 

[donrae]

This is great information! Thank you! How long do they have to stay together after the 2-3 week marker has passed? Depends on how many eggs you want to incubate. If the hen was with an undesirable rooster and you put her with the correct rooster, then wait the 2-3 weeks, just keep them separate until you have the eggs you want. This can be from one hen or several. Rule of thumb is eggs are best to incubate at less than a week old, so plan to not collect longer than that on average.

Any of these breeds I should just eat and not worry about keeping around? That just depends on how much you like each breed and individual. You've got a nice variety of breeds there, some better for meat, some better for eggs, some pretty much in the balance. I don't see any I'd cull out right off. Thing is, we're all pretty much limited by the amount of space we have! Even if you like a particular breed, in a year or two you might find yourself phasing that breed out in favor of increasing a more favored breed. Or, you may keep a varied flock all your chicken-keeping years....it's up to you!

I like the idea of having some meat birds take long so we know we have future meat birds so I am ok with that as well. Would span it out well.

Another question when can they breed? (as soon as eggs are being laid?) The cockerels usually mature a little before the pullets, and will start trying to mate before the pullets lay. If a pullet is in with a male, her eggs are pretty much going to be fertile. A good balance between fertility and wear on your hens is ten hens per rooster, but that number is by no means hard and fast. I've had one rooster easily fertilize 20+ hens (and boy was he a happy boy

) and have run a breeding pen with one rooster and three hens.

I am hoping I end up with a broody hen maybe one of my silkies unless they turn out to be boys ha! If not I will look into incubation. Your silkies are a great choice for broodies! I keep bantam cochins for broodies, and added a few silkie chicks this year as my cochins are getting older. Your cochin has a good chance of going broody. Some of your other breeds, not so much. Although nothing's impossible, we've seen broody Leghorns and sex -links over the years, and broodiness is supposed to have been bred out of those birds years and years ago!

 

[momofthehouse]

You're going to have a nice mix of birds there!

One of my favorite crosses was a brown leghorn and an Easter egger. I don't know if I just got lucky, but I got hens that laid a ton of huge eggs like a Leghorn, and they were light blue or green like the EE. That was my favorite cross for a few years....but then, the cockerels from that cross aren't very meaty at all. It's a trade off.

You could run two "strains", so to speak. I'd breed the Leghorn rooster with the EE, the bsl and the Leghorn hens. Those will be your laying birds, but not so much on the meaty side. You could also use the Aussie hens with him, for a more balanced bird. For some reason I totally spaced your CCLs, they'd be a good production bird to mix in this category also.

Your best meat birds of that will be your Marans, Reds, Wyandottes, maybe the Aussies. Some Faverolle cockerels get pretty good size, too.

Your Cochin and Giant birds will add size, but the Cochins aren't especially meaty and they both take longer to mature. So, you'd get a bigger bird crossing say a Giant and a Marans, but instead of it reaching full size at 5-6 months, it may take 7-8. It's up to you how important that is.

If you want to play with sex links, you have a few options...

your cuckoo Marans and cream Legbar hens under any of your males except the Legbar, white Giant or cuckoo Marans will give you black sex links.

Your Faverolle hen under either your RIR or brown Leghorn roosters should give sex link chicks.


For purity of breeding, at least 2 weeks is advised. If it's of absolute importance to have a specific rooster father the chicks, I'd say wait up to 3 weeks after the hen was last exposed to an undesirable rooster. Hens store sperm internally for a good 2 weeks, sometimes more.

Sounds like you've got a great flock coming! Have fun playing with them, and remember there's no wrong crosses with chickens---you can simply eat your mistakes

On this post what is the CCL breed ? (I dont know the acronyms ha!)

 

[donrae]

So sorry---CCL stands for Crested Cream Legbar.

 

[momofthehouse]

My blue splash maran roo is a meany! He would be first on the chopping block! I put him in with my cream legbar roo cause he is bigger and he calmed him down some. I think the blue splash felt like he ran the flock! He pecks at me alot. Do I really need him for anything?? ha!

 

[momofthehouse]

Oh and my last older buff orhphington just hatched out silkies ha! (I gave her those eggs)

 

[momofthehouse]

Anyone else have any thoughts to add? They are growing fast and I can tell some I want to keep cause of personality and how friendly they are!