How do I hatch Red layers?

[Maiahr]

I am trying to hatch red layers, i.e. who lay brown eggs. Something like Golden commets or Lohmann Brown. I have such hens (on the picture) which I bought when they were 1 year old. The hens are approx 1.5-2 kilograms, excellent layers and way calmer than Leghorns. Lay L and XL brown eggs. In Bulgaria nobody hatches them, they import the eggs or the chicks, use the hens in egg producing companies and then they sell the hens at age of 1 year for a minimal price. So I would like to hatch them myself, so far unsuccessfully. Rooster of this breed are not available. I hatched Tetra (or I was told the eggs are from Tetra parents when I hatched) 3 months ago, but they are large chicken, red with black tails, not like what I want to achieve.

 

[cavemanrich]

Can you locate a Rhode Island Red rooster. I know they are common throughout Europe. Not sure of Bulgaria?
Many high production sexlink chickens are part RIR. This would be the ideal rooster to get for your flock of hens.
Generally, egg farms sell off their spent hens at 2 to 3 year old. That is when the highest production slows down. Replacing them with young chickens is the ideal economical move.
Your sellers may be lying about the age of the discounted hens they sell to make quick sales.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Maiahr]

Yes, I have a pure Rhode Island Red rooster, I have moved him in that flock this week, but he has a black tail, not sure what will happen. BTW, I had a Light Sussex rooster in this flock of layers and ALL the chicks came as Light Sussex, i.e. this red layers breed is not very dominant, ah?

 

[cavemanrich]

You RIR Roo and those hens you posted should produce Brown Egg Laying chickens.
I do not know anything about Light Sussex chickens.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

It's impossible to say what the parentage is of your red layers. All we know is they are the offspring of a red cock over silver hens. These hybrids wont breed true. As in you'll not be able to continue breeding for a red with white leakage hen unless you set up to make them from scratch every time. A way to make red sex links (red layers) is RIR over leghorn. If you kept a breeding pen then all chicks hatched are red sex links. Females and males have different down color at hatch, cockerels are white and hens red.

If it's the black tail you don't like, RIR are black pattern columbian, and want a flock that that self perpetuates, a line of birds, then with your RIR cock over the red layers there is 25% chance of white pattern columbian. That would be red bird with white tail and white lacing in hackles. 25% would look like sex links, but not be and 25% black pattern columbian like the RIR and 25% black. That's an educated guess of what you'd hatch from this mating. Not knowing the parentage of sex links, suppliers have their own lines, we can't be certain you'd achieve the laced neck but likely the white tail.

That would get you where you seem to be wanting to go. Something that lays L to XL eggs, lots of them and has white tail instead of black. Hatch enough this first mating to produce enough of that pattern to select for size/start of lay and make up a breeding flock of those. They will breed true for feather pattern and egg color and size of egg.

 

[Maiahr]

It's impossible to say what the parentage is of your red layers. All we know is they are the offspring of a red cock over silver hens. These hybrids wont breed true. As in you'll not be able to continue breeding for a red with white leakage hen unless you set up to make them from scratch every time. A way to make red sex links (red layers) is RIR over leghorn. If you kept a breeding pen then all chicks hatched are red sex links. Females and males have different down color at hatch, cockerels are white and hens red.

If the red layers are red cock (say RIR) over a silver hen, what breeds could these silver hens be? But then you say - a way to make red layers is RIR over Leghorn - I will have to disagree from experience - the pictures from the other thread.. my chicks which hatched the other day are pure fluffy white, out of 10 only 2-3 have some dark spots, they are RIR over Leghorn.. Yes, I was expecting red layers... Do you think they will turn into red later?

I know the red layers that I have are a weak gene, as I had a Light Sussex rooster there last year and not a single chick had red - they ALL came as Light Sussex, I had at least 3 hatches from that flock (i.e. more than 60 chicks).

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Light Sussex are silver. I'd expect Silver over those red hybrids to be white. The RIR over light Sussex would make sex links too. Leghorn are used as they are better layers.

I'd like to see a photo of your Rhode Island Red. Something is not adding up. I don't suspect the leghorn as they should be silver. Red over silver begets red sex links. I suspect something is wrong with the RIR and would like to see it.

 

[Maiahr]

@Egghead_Jr so are you saying at some point I should move the RIR rooster to Light Sussex hens? What will I receive then? Pictures of the RIR rooster attached. Meanwhile as per NatJ it is normal that RIR over white Leghorn produces white with black spots chicks..

 

[Maiahr]

I found these red layers are a breed called Lohmann Brown, and they are a hybrid between RIR and White Rock. They make them in only one place in Europe - Germany. I also read White Rock is just a color variety of Plymouth Rock, so I am now trying to find White Plymouth Rock hatching eggs.

 

[Amer]

@Egghead_Jr so are you saying at some point I should move the RIR rooster to Light Sussex hens? What will I receive then? Pictures of the RIR rooster attached. Meanwhile as per NatJ it is normal that RIR over white Leghorn produces white with black spots chicks..

Your “red layers” won’t breed true. I would take the RIR with them and collect the white-tailed offspring. Breed the white tailed offspring together or with their mother. Either way, they will not breed true, but you will get something that *looks* like a red layer.