Hybrids and cross-breeds - which to go for?

[Currawong Farm]

Hi everyone. I posted this in the intro forum but was advised to post it here. I am a 60F living in a semi-rural 5-acre property just outside of Perth, Western Australia. I have had chooks (our word for chickens) for many years but stopped several years ago and have only just gotten back into raising and breeding them again. I started my flock with a White Leghorn Rooster and 6 Rhode Island Red hens, with the intention of breeding Golden Comets. I then added a pure-bred Blue Australorp rooster and hen and they are magnificent! Simply stunning birds! Sadly, the White Leghorn rooster turned out to be aggressive and nasty, just harassing all the chooks and really going for me hard when I entered the yard. He ended up with the fate of most aggressive roosters and made a lovely stew . However, he did his job while I had him and I have had several Golden Comet chicks (WLH roo/RiR hen) and White Autralorps (WLH roo/BAust hen), as well as some Rhode Island Blues (Blue Aust roo/RiR hen) and pure Blue Austs from my new pair. I've sold a few of the chicks, but still have about 24 birds.

My questions are about the various cross-breeds I can expect. I believe all 3 are good layers and make great cross-breeds but have noticed something about the offspring regarding sexes. Because the sample size is so small, I am not sure if this is just coincidence or if it is a common trend:
* Of the Golden Comets (WLH roo/RiR hen), almost ALL of the chicks turned out to be roosters. Of 8 GC chicks, 6 were roosters. Is this common? If so, I won't bother with replacing my WHR rooster, and will give up on the Golden Comet hybrid. If it was just bad luck, I might consider getting another WLH rooster. Should I keep one of the GC roosters just to keep the WLH genes in the mix?
* Of the White Autralorps (WLH roo/BAust hen), it looks like most are hens. I've read a little that says the hens have black spots while the roos are pure white, so I think I have mostly hens from this cross but l am not sure how true this holds. Some sites say all WLH/crosses will be white with black spots, so what is your experience?
* Of the Rhode Island Blues (Blue Aust roo/RiR hen), I have an even mix of roos/hens and they are gorgeous, so I am going to persevere with this cross. The roos are just starting to mature and are showing so many colours! Should I just concentrate on this cross?
* Of my pure Blue Australorps, I think I have 2 roos and 1 hen. My initial pair are so beautiful that I know I am going to keep on with them, so no question here - just proud chook mum!

 

[SmiYa0126]

So beautiful! I would go with cross breeds, my hybrids we're plagued with issues, both aren't laying now.

As for male to female ratio. My last hatch I got three females and seven males

 

[NatJ]

I started my flock with a White Leghorn Rooster and 6 Rhode Island Red hens, with the intention of breeding Golden Comets.

Unless Golden Comets are different in Australia, that cross will not work.

In the USA, Golden Comets are a cross of red FATHER and white MOTHER to get color-sexable chicks. Crossing the other direction does not work for the color sexing. And White Leghorns do not work as the mother, because they have the "wrong" genes for white. (There are at least three sets of genes that can cause a white chicken, and only one of them works for making sexlinks. If you don't really want sexlinks, you won't care about the details.)

have noticed something about the offspring regarding sexes. Because the sample size is so small, I am not sure if this is just coincidence or if it is a common trend:

It's coincidence, not anything about which breed is on which side.

* Of the Golden Comets (WLH roo/RiR hen), almost ALL of the chicks turned out to be roosters. Of 8 GC chicks, 6 were roosters. Is this common? If so, I won't bother with replacing my WHR rooster, and will give up on the Golden Comet hybrid. If it was just bad luck, I might consider getting another WLH rooster. Should I keep one of the GC roosters just to keep the WLH genes in the mix?

The sex of chicks is determined by the hen. Most hens produce a mix fairly close to 50/50 over time, but a small sample can be badly skewed (as you see.) I have read that some hens produce more chicks of one sex or the other, but that such hens are fairly rare. Since you have other chicks from RIR hens, and the other chicks do not have the same male-heavy pattern, your hens are probably producing a fairly normal distribution of genders.

If you keep any of the females of this cross, or the Leghorn/Australorp cross, you will still have Leghorn genes in your mix. I don't know whether it makes sense to also keep a Leghorn-mix rooster or not.

* Of the White Autralorps (WLH roo/BAust hen), it looks like most are hens. I've read a little that says the hens have black spots while the roos are pure white, so I think I have mostly hens from this cross but l am not sure how true this holds. Some sites say all WLH/crosses will be white with black spots, so what is your experience?

There is no genetic reason for the black spots to be on just one sex of chick. I would expect white with black spots on all of them.

* Of the Rhode Island Blues (Blue Aust roo/RiR hen), I have an even mix of roos/hens and they are gorgeous, so I am going to persevere with this cross. The roos are just starting to mature and are showing so many colours! Should I just concentrate on this cross?

That comes down to personal preference. If you really like them best, that might be a good choice.

Maybe try keeping a few of the hens from the Leghorn mixes, but keep males only of the kinds you like best. The Leghorn-mix hens are likely to lay a different color eggs (white or off-white, rather than brown), so you might be able to notice if you get many more eggs from Leghorn-mix hens than from brown-layer hens. You can also pay attention to their temperaments. Some people end up with strong preferences about that too (calm hens, flighty hens, friendly hens, aloof hens, and many other variations.)

* Of my pure Blue Australorps, I think I have 2 roos and 1 hen. My initial pair are so beautiful that I know I am going to keep on with them, so no question here - just proud chook mum!

Obviously no advice needed about them

But if you keep that many Blue Australorp males, you may not want to keep any of the mixed-breed males, just to avoid having too many total.

 

[Chicalina]

If it were me, I'd keep the blues and breed them! RIRs are boring!

Maybe introduce some barring into the program?

 

[NatJ]

If it were me, I'd keep the blues and breed them! RIRs are boring!

Maybe introduce some barring into the program?

Maybe breed a Leghorn-mix to the blues, and see what pops up. Some Leghorns do have barring, but of course white barring on a white bird is not obvious. If a non-white bird shows up with white barring in the next generation, it will be obvious then.

Or yes, I agree it would be interesting to add barring if it is not already present.

 

[Currawong Farm]

Unless Golden Comets are different in Australia, that cross will not work.

In the USA, Golden Comets are a cross of red FATHER and white MOTHER to get color-sexable chicks. Crossing the other direction does not work for the color sexing. And White Leghorns do not work as the mother, because they have the "wrong" genes for white. (There are at least three sets of genes that can cause a white chicken, and only one of them works for making sexlinks. If you don't really want sexlinks, you won't care about the details.)


It's coincidence, not anything about which breed is on which side.


The sex of chicks is determined by the hen. Most hens produce a mix fairly close to 50/50 over time, but a small sample can be badly skewed (as you see.) I have read that some hens produce more chicks of one sex or the other, but that such hens are fairly rare. Since you have other chicks from RIR hens, and the other chicks do not have the same male-heavy pattern, your hens are probably producing a fairly normal distribution of genders.

If you keep any of the females of this cross, or the Leghorn/Australorp cross, you will still have Leghorn genes in your mix. I don't know whether it makes sense to also keep a Leghorn-mix rooster or not.


There is no genetic reason for the black spots to be on just one sex of chick. I would expect white with black spots on all of them.


That comes down to personal preference. If you really like them best, that might be a good choice.

Maybe try keeping a few of the hens from the Leghorn mixes, but keep males only of the kinds you like best. The Leghorn-mix hens are likely to lay a different color eggs (white or off-white, rather than brown), so you might be able to notice if you get many more eggs from Leghorn-mix hens than from brown-layer hens. You can also pay attention to their temperaments. Some people end up with strong preferences about that too (calm hens, flighty hens, friendly hens, aloof hens, and many other variations.)


Obviously no advice needed about them

But if you keep that many Blue Australorp males, you may not want to keep any of the mixed-breed males, just to avoid having too many total.

Thanks for the very detailed reply. I appreciate it! When I got my first birds (the WLH roos and RiR hens), it was simply convenience - that was what my local poulty stockist had available at the right age. I looked up what the WLH roo and RiR hen cross would be like and found some very encouraging articles, saying that this was the best way to go. Of course, now I can't find that article and everything that comes up on the cross says to go your way, i.e. RiR roo, WLH hen. Oh well, hindsight is 20:20 and my WLH rooster is no more, so I think I will just try to sell off all the offspring. The roosters are coming up on 6 months old now and are starting to get fiesty, showing a similar temperament to their nasty dad. One of them gave me 3 very hard pecks yesterday, drawing blood on each .

Re the WLH/Blue Aust cross, I do have a couple of pure whites and a couple with black spots, so hoping that the colour does indicate sex. Either way, will probably sell them anyway.

I think I will just stick to the Blue Australorp pair and RIR hens, selling off the offspring until these ones get old. The mature hens are producing way more eggs than I can eat or even give away, so no reason to keep expanding the flock.

Just for clarity, I hadn't intended to have so many chickens. I had a young couple as tenants on the property and the guy was super keen to breed and sell chickens, so incubated a lot of chicks. Unfortunately, he and his missus then moved on, leaving me with a pen full of half-grown chickens, mostly bloody roosters! Your advice has helped me clarify which ones I want to continue with and which to sell, so thank you again for taking the time.

 

[NatJ]

When I got my first birds (the WLH roos and RiR hens), it was simply convenience - that was what my local poulty stockist had available at the right age. I looked up what the WLH roo and RiR hen cross would be like and found some very encouraging articles, saying that this was the best way to go. Of course, now I can't find that article and everything that comes up on the cross says to go your way, i.e. RiR roo, WLH hen. Oh well, hindsight is 20:20 and my WLH rooster is no more

Using the RIR rooster and White Leghorn hen will still not give color-sexable Golden Comets. It takes white hens with a different set of genes to make the sexlink trick work.

But as you say, it doesn't really matter now for yours

I think I will just stick to the Blue Australorp pair and RIR hens, selling off the offspring until these ones get old. The mature hens are producing way more eggs than I can eat or even give away, so no reason to keep expanding the flock.

Just for clarity, I hadn't intended to have so many chickens. I had a young couple as tenants on the property and the guy was super keen to breed and sell chickens, so incubated a lot of chicks. Unfortunately, he and his missus then moved on, leaving me with a pen full of half-grown chickens, mostly bloody roosters! Your advice has helped me clarify which ones I want to continue with and which to sell, so thank you again for taking the time.

I'm glad I was able to help you clarify what to do with which ones. It sounds like you now have a plan that should work for you

 

[Currawong Farm]

If it were me, I'd keep the blues and breed them! RIRs are boring!

Maybe introduce some barring into the program?

Yes, definitely leaning in that direction.

 

[Red Mangrove]

RIR are underrated. Out of all of my basic breeds I value RIR the most. I'm glad to have their blood in my mixed flock

 

[SourRoses]

The one thing we've learned over & over again keeping chickens is that you have to follow your passion, to make keeping them remain fun.
More time with birds you don't feel much for doesn't make them more dear, it just sucks some of the joy out of the hobby and you wonder where it went.

You clearly have a favorite type. I vote you get rid of everybody that's not your favorite. Then make MORE of your favorites