Heritage vs. Hybrid

[Red Mangrove]

New Hampshire Reds actually only had one breed in their ancestry, Rhode Island Reds, so it is actually possible to make one breed out of another without crossing involved.

In this instance it would have been severe inbreeding, no? I would imagine that's how humans first worked with junglefowl. Inbreed the ones with desired traits to get strongly overlapping genes going

 

[Amer]

In this instance it would have been severe inbreeding, no? I would imagine that's how humans first worked with junglefowl. Inbreed the ones with desired traits to get strongly overlapping genes going

Yes, but I think that “exhibition” Rhode Island Reds had a broader genetic pool at the time

If you look at this vintage post card, these RIR are lighter and shorter bodied than our current exhibition birds.
I think it must have been a divergence NHR breeders decided to focus on meat and kept the color the same while RIR breeders focused on eggs and got darker and darker birds.

 

[MysteryChicken]

No. Some are mixes, some are too new to be a breed. Some are too inconsistent to be a standardized breed, which is a landrace breed. Some landraces are heritage and some aren't (like Easter Eggers.)

A hybrid could never be a breed. Its offspring could be standardized into a breed but the hybrid itself is not true breeding. Also, PolishxWyandotte is a crossbreed, not a hybrid unless someone bred them together to produce F1s with increased egg/meat yield.
Delawares are an example of a breed that was created from the progeny of a meat hybrid.
New Hampshire Reds actually only had one breed in their ancestry, Rhode Island Reds, so it is actually possible to make one breed out of another without crossing involved.

I don't think you really understood. But I'll leave it.

 

[King of the Farm]

Thank You all that replied as it was very informative.

 

[King of the Farm]

Cornish Cross are actually the offspring of two strains of the same “breed” crossed together yet they are still considered hybrids.

So what are Cornish Cross actually?

 

[MysteryChicken]

So what are Cornish Cross actually?

A, 4 way crossbreed.

 

[NatJ]

So what are Cornish Cross actually?

Originally, a cross of two breeds (one of which was Cornish, hence the name.)

By now, a 4-way cross. None of the four look much like any of the original pure breeds.

The Cornish Cross chicks have mothers that are a two-way cross, and fathers that are a different two-way cross. The hatcheries are trying to balance several different points: mothers that lay lots of eggs, fathers that stay healthy long enough to sire a bunch of chicks, and final chicks that grow quickly and are butchered at a young age (so they do not need to lay eggs or sire chicks.)

 

[King of the Farm]

By now, a 4-way cross. None of the four look much like any of the original pure breeds.

What are the 4 breeds? Would I be able to raise my own?

 

[NatJ]

What are the 4 breeds? Would I be able to raise my own?

The hatcheries and breeding companies do not sell them. None of them look much like any pure breed of chicken, and they probably do not even have names. I am fairly sure they are all white, with single combs and yellow legs, but how they grow is much more important than how they look.

If you want to try raising your own meat bird hybrids, maybe get some hens of dual-purpose breeds that are known for growing rapidly (Plymouth Rocks, New Hampshires, and Delawares might be good choices.) Cross those hens with a breed known for having a large breast (Dark Cornish, or White Laced Red Cornish, or any other color of pure Cornish that happens to be available.)

That is the basic recipe for the original Cornish Cross chickens. What you get may be just as good as the first ones all those years ago, but will not be as good as the commercially-available ones now.

 

[King of the Farm]

Thanks for all the info!