Keeping two breeds and one type of rooster?

[rawatson702]

This question seems like a no-brainer, but just to be sure....

We would like to keep two different breeds of chickens. Do we need one rooster for each breed, or can we use one rooster from one of the breeds for both types of chickens?

If we can, what kinds of problems (if any) might we have?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Mahonri]

Hi there and WELCOME TO BYC!!

The rule of thumb is:

One roo for every 10 hens.

Obviously you'll only get purebred eggs from the same breed as the roo.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Not sure what your goals are with keeping chickens or why you have a rooster. Roosters will service any breed of chicken, so the eggs should be fertile. And roosters will accept any other breed into their flock, so he should protect all of them the same. Other than genetic mixing, which may not matter to you, I don't see any problems.

 

[PortageGirl]

Yep, not sure what sort of problems you are anticipating. Chickens don't care what breed they are, not any more than a golden retriever will refuse to hang out with a beagle... Only the eggs from the like pair will be purebreds like the others said of course. One thing is, some breeds have very timid temperments, some can be quite agressive... that's something to consider and keep an eye on, but not a show stopper either.

 

[MissPrissy]

One rooster will service both breeds of hen. Only the hens that are the same breed as the rooster will give you pure eggs. The other eggs will be barnyard variety mutts.

 

[Leah-yes I know I'm crazy]

You could work this to your advantage with pre-planning. I think a rir roo and br hens will give you chicks that are auto sexing. (If I'm wrong someone will correct me in a few seconds...) So you could say have rir's and br hens and end up with some pure breds, some sex links at hatching.

I really admire pre-planning in others and whish I had thought before jumping in.

 

[pkeeler]

I would just add that even if you had two roosters, they would both service all the hens. So if you had Rocks and Reds, and a Rock and Red rooster, unless you physically separated them, both roosters would mate with all the hens.

The only problem, if mixing is not a problem, is if you had two really different breeds. Like modern game and Jersey Giants. Then the Jersey Giant rooster might be a bit much for the game hens (or the game rooster might be too little for the Giant hens). But this would not be solved by having a rooster for each. Since the Giant roo would still go after the game hens.

 

[EweSheep]

If you want to start the trend of Olive Eggers, you can either get a Maran roo with some Maran pullets along with EE and Amercuanas. Or vice versa.

For me, keeping one or two cockerals sometimes can be good and sometimes it can be bad if they are all running together. If they are in separate pens, all for the better.

For me, Welsummers with the EEs and Amercuanas, I would get two different varieties...the purebred Welsummers and EEs.

 

[digitS']

Leah-yes I know I'm crazy :

You could work this to your advantage with pre-planning. I think a rir roo and br hens will give you chicks that are auto sexing. (If I'm wrong someone will correct me in a few seconds...) So you could say have rir's and br hens and end up with some pure breds, some sex links at hatching.

I really admire pre-planning in others and whish I had thought before jumping in.

That is certainly a way to go. With Rhode Island Red roosters, and both RIR and Barred Rock hens, you would not only know which chicks are the pure RIR's but be able to identify the sexes of the other chicks.

pure RIR = red chicks
sex-link pullets = black chicks
sex-link cockerels = black chicks with white dots on their heads

Hens often lay eggs in common nests and it may be difficult to separate the eggs by breed. As soon as they hatch, you would know

.

One caution on mixing breeds, I wouldn't want large roosters of one breed and very small hens of another. The other way around works fine, however. Not caring about fertile eggs, about my best combinations have been large breed hens with Ameraucana or Hamburg roos. A 4 pound Hamburg is a large enuf roo with 7 or 8 pound Australorps or Orpingtons. The frumpy, dumpy hens keep the flighty Hamburg around, too

.

Steve​

 

[rawatson702]

Okay, these are all great responses, but now I have more questions from the answers. Truly, forgive me; I am trying to plan for dairy goats and chickens, both of which I have no experience.

1. Do I need a goal with laying chickens other than....eggs for breakfast?

2. If I mix breeds, does that mean I can't hang out with the purebred farmers?

3. Are some people finicky about buying or eating eggs that are not pure?

4. Do all the eggs taste the same anyway?