Sorry if this topic belongs in another forum. I had trouble deciding. Anyway, when the parentage is known (roo=RIR hen=BO), do you describe a cross as "hen breed/roo breed" like a BO/RIR cross.. or "roo breed/hen breed" as in RIR/BO cross? Or is it alphabetcal order? Or just what you think of first? When only one parent is known, I assume there is no order. If I had one roo (a RIR) as the Dad and a bunch of mutt hens for Moms, I'd just say a RIR cross or as in my case right now, I know the Mom is a Mille Fleur Leghorn, but the Dad could be one of 6-7 breeds, inluding but not limited to Russian Orloff, Speckled Sussex, or even a Mille Fleur leghorn, so I would call this 4 day old chick as possibly a MF leghorn cross. I do understand that certain crosses have names like black sex-link, etc so they would be described as such. And I do understand that a cross is a mutt. Dale-Ann
I'm not a pro and I imagine there is a standard, but to avoid confusion I always say breed hen x breed rooster, such as BO hen X RIR Rooster, actually using the words hen and rooster. That way everyone knows what I am talking about whether they are a pro or as amateur as me.
The standard way is to put the sire first...as in BR x Buff Orp, which would mean BR rooster over Buff Orp hen. Written that way, you always know which parent was which. Think of the "over" as rooster mating (covering) hen.
