We have a small flock of heritage breeds, 11 pullets and 6 roosters. They are 3 months old, and we need to make a decision which rooster to keep.
We have the following breeds (pullets and cockerels):
Ameraucana (black)
Welsummer
Light Sussex
Barred Rock
In 3 months, we will also have the following breeds to merge into the flock:
Production Red (wheaten and red colors)
New Hampshire Red
Buff Brahma (female)
Buff Orpington (female)
Australorp (female)
Dutch Leghorn (female)
Easter Egger (male and female, mostly brown red with some white and dark speckles)
Black Langshan (male)
Black Langshan female which is a mix, as she has white feathers on the head and neck, and a few white ones on the feet.
We'd like to let our broodies to hatch their own chicks, and looking for some nice colored variations/crosses, and also have 1 selected breed to breed true.
So the question is which rooster is to keep? (Actually, we can keep two roosters - one from the first batch, and another from the second batch - or 2 from the first batch). All our cockerels are very friendly and not aggressive, the most docile is Welsummer cockerel, and the most dominant is Ameraucana.
This is a tough decision, as I do not know much what to expect from these potential crosses, so please help with your advice! I understand that if we keep Barred Rock rooster, then most (if not all) the chicks will be black or barred in the first generation, that's not too much 'color', LOL. Welsummer roo x Light Sussex will produce sex link (caramel females and white males), they are good layers, but the males are too small for a meat bird. Welsummer roo x Barred Rock may be interesting too, but the Barred Rocks girls are so dominant they now peck the poor Welsummer cockerel quite a bit.
Will Ameraucana roo x any of the above breed produce Easter Eggers? What colors?
Thank you so much in advance.
We have the following breeds (pullets and cockerels):
Ameraucana (black)
Welsummer
Light Sussex
Barred Rock
In 3 months, we will also have the following breeds to merge into the flock:
Production Red (wheaten and red colors)
New Hampshire Red
Buff Brahma (female)
Buff Orpington (female)
Australorp (female)
Dutch Leghorn (female)
Easter Egger (male and female, mostly brown red with some white and dark speckles)
Black Langshan (male)
Black Langshan female which is a mix, as she has white feathers on the head and neck, and a few white ones on the feet.
We'd like to let our broodies to hatch their own chicks, and looking for some nice colored variations/crosses, and also have 1 selected breed to breed true.
So the question is which rooster is to keep? (Actually, we can keep two roosters - one from the first batch, and another from the second batch - or 2 from the first batch). All our cockerels are very friendly and not aggressive, the most docile is Welsummer cockerel, and the most dominant is Ameraucana.
This is a tough decision, as I do not know much what to expect from these potential crosses, so please help with your advice! I understand that if we keep Barred Rock rooster, then most (if not all) the chicks will be black or barred in the first generation, that's not too much 'color', LOL. Welsummer roo x Light Sussex will produce sex link (caramel females and white males), they are good layers, but the males are too small for a meat bird. Welsummer roo x Barred Rock may be interesting too, but the Barred Rocks girls are so dominant they now peck the poor Welsummer cockerel quite a bit.
Will Ameraucana roo x any of the above breed produce Easter Eggers? What colors?
Thank you so much in advance.
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