Hypothetically speaking....

krista74

Songster
5 Years
Jun 4, 2014
1,576
314
158
Victoria, Australia.
I know if I hatch eggs from my BO hens, which are fertilised by my BO rooster, I will get BO chicks, probably similar in nature to their parents.

However, if my BO rooster fertilises my RIR hen's eggs, what are their offspring likely to be like as far as temperament, egg-laying and looks goes?

I am just interested as one of my RIR girls looks like she may be going broody. I caught her today siting on 4 plastic and 4 real eggs, and she was NOT happy when I removed them.

She is currently sleeping in the nest box, eggless, after refusing my two attempts to put her back on the roost to sleep. Under the cover of darkness she went back to the nest box! Her will is stronger than mine.....

Thanks in advance,

- Krista
 
Temperament, egg-laying, and looks are inherited from the parents. There are a whole lot of different genes involved in temperament and egg-laying, so these don’t come with absolute guarantees, but the tendency is to get chickens very much like the parents. Both parents contribute to this genetically, not just one. If you are happy with the parents you should be happy with the offspring.

I haven’t done that specific cross but what I’d expect is for the chicks to be sort of an orange color when they feather out, Darker than the BO but lighter than the RIR. They should have black tail feathers and possibly other black markings, especially on the males. I’d expect them to be pretty attractive, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. You will be able to tell by the shade of red which are BO’s and which are crosses.

My test to see if a hen is really broody is that she has to spend two consecutive nights on the nest instead of roosting in her normal place. I’ve had hens that had most of the signs of a hen going broody but quit after spending one night on the nest. If yours is back there tonight, she is probably there for the long haul.

You probably already know this, but collect all the eggs you want her to hatch, mark them, and start them all at the same time. It’s important that they all start at the same time. Then check under her after the others have finished laying for the day and remove any eggs that don’t belong.

Good luck.
 

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