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Is the Ideal 236 the same as the California White? I got 2 barred chicks from her (CW) but the daddy was a cuckoo maran. Sooo.... I assumed that the barring came from him, but there barring was more of a charcoal grey and very light and they got the build from their Momma except slightly larger and they lay very large cream colored eggs too every day just like Momma Blossom.
I JUST LOVE THESE GUESSING GAMES!
The California White is a F1 hybrid of a California Grey rooster crossed with a White Leghorn hen.
The Ideal 236 is a mutt (not a F1 hybrid) that is bred for eggs, eggs, and more eggs. There's California Grey and White Leghorn in it's ancestry, and who knows what else, but it is different from the California White.
I ALMOST got some of those Ideal 236 hens. I heard so much great things about them! Last minute I decided not to only because I decided that I wanted to focus on dual-purpose breeds so that the extra roosters I hatch are worth butchering.
The 236 would not be worth butchering. They are little bitty birds. They are laying machines though. Like I said before, it is very rare that I do not get 1 egg per hen per day even if it hotter then blue blazes. When all of my other hens quit laying for whatever reason I can still count on 2 big white eggs (I only have 2 of the 236's left after raccoon attack) in the nest boxes. They lay nice big eggs too, they vary from 1.75 - 2.25oz (large to jumbo). I am not sure how those little hen squeeze out those big eggs!
My only complaints are that 1 they are white eggs, which I do not care but people that buy form me like the brown, olive, green, and pink eggs better. 2 they do not forage much, so their yolks tens to be more yellow than the other hens that eat grass and bugs making their yolks nice and orange. They tend to hit the feeder pretty hard too, those eggs have to come from somewhere.
