mixed breeding....

[Hillschicks]

We have everything listed in the signiture line below... Hens such as leghorn, new hampshire red, sex links, barred rocks... We have them for high production of large eggs... After adding a few more when we decide on them we intend to stop buying and just breed our flock out for generations... (Assuming a predetor doesnt thin em out too much) ... The problem is the roosters I like are generally large docile breeds such as our current buff brahma... Very large, very docile... But buff brahmas are avg layers of medium eggs... Every 2 years or so i intend to swap out the rooster for another to make sure we arent hatching inbreds... But roosters from high production breeds of large egg layers tend to be angry non friendly roosters... Doesnt sit well with my young children... My question is will future generations egg production go down because the rooster is a average egg breed or will the high production of the hens keep everything going as planned???

 

[rollkeeg877]

depends what he is and how strong the chicks line is u might get even better egg layers or u could get a hen who lays 30 eggs a year but try anything it doesn't hurt to try

 

[donrae]

It's not the greatest sample, but I put a brown leghorn roo in with my production birds and easter eggers. I've always had pretty good layers with easter eggers, but of course they're not spectacular like sex links or leghorns. My ee/leghorn mixes lay just about as well as the leghorns or sex links. They're now 3 and 4 years old and layed quite well last summer, now on hiatus for the winter.

Like I said, small sample, but I had good experience. Course, my brown leghorn roosters were sweet and easy to manage.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I generally don't have that problem with roosters from high production breeds of large egg layers tending to be angry non friendly roosters, but it is just a throw of the dice of what you get. With small kids I can understand your concern.

Genes come in pairs and the parents contribute one of the pair. That makes my phrasing a bit awkward but please bear with me.

A rooster contributes one gene of every pair he has to all his offspring, male and female. A hen does the same with her sons but withholds the sex-link genes from her daughters. For the sake of this conversation let's ignore the sex linked genes.

A rooster will contribute as many genes related to egg laying as a hen. A hen will contribute as many genes as a rooster toward the behavior and personality of her sons. If your good egg laying hens have a son, they are as likely to contribute topward his personality as his father. Since the rooster has a different function in the flock than the rooster, you might not be able to tell how her son will act as a rooster from her behaviors. Since a rooster does not lay eggs, it's hard to know what kind of egg productivity he may be contributing. Knowing his mother and grandmothers might help in that.

What I'm saying is that both parents contribute toward the traits of their offspring. If your Brahma comes from stock that are not great egg layers and your hens are great egg layers, their offspring are likely to be somewhere in between, with some of them better than others. You can correct that in a few generations by selecting the best egg layers to breed, but that takes a few generations. I'll also mention that some members of this forum have Brahmas that are really good egg layers but maybe you have a strain that is not.

Same with behavior. A cross between a docile rooster and a brute of a hen might produce a docile son or a brute. You can correct that by selecting your breeders in future generations, but behavioral things are harder and you have your kids to consider.

I probably have not made your decision any easier. I don't find most roosters of good egg laying breeds to be brutes, but I have had some that were introduced to the crock pot. There is no guarantee regardless of what you choose.

 

[Hillschicks]

Actually you have helped, thank you... Just going to keep breeding the best layers and see how it goes for a few years... If its not going as planned, we will have some chicken dinners and do it over ... The beauty of backyard chickens... Its an edible hobby

 

[mtnviewfarms]

I also enjoy the larger chickens - currently have Australorps, BRs, EEs and Welsummers - and have multiple Roos as I plan to let them interbreed
to improve number and quantity as well as colors of eggs.

I have found ( in my limited experience with only these breeds thus far ) that it isn't so much the particular breed of the Rooster but the individual Roos
concerning temperament and aggressiveness. I select for the Roos that do not attack or behave in an aggressive manner toward humans but that are also large, protective of their 'girls' and good solid flock leaders - i.e., not overly aggressive with either sex in the flock either.

I have been flogged by Welsummer Roos as well as BR Roos in my 3 years of chicken keeping - suffice it to say they either went to freezer camp in a hurry as that is not a behavior that we tolerate as I spend lots of time around my flock and I don't intend to be fearful of attack while doing so. That said, I don't believe it is safe for a small
child - i.e., under 8 years old - to be with standard size Roos as a flogging can be very injurious - even to an adult and can come w/o warning.

I have 5 grand-daughters and we have a rule that no child - even older ones - are allowed to be w/o an adult while with the flock - and no child under 8
is allowed in the coop/run area but must stand outside to view them.

 

[Hillschicks]

We had a sebright rooster... Tiny little guy... Very aggressive... Attacked me and everyone else... We were just getting him to stop attacking people when a predator got him... He got a reprieve because he was tiny... Duke, our buff brahma will not be tiny and will get very few chances and zero tolerence with the children... I love our chickens and think its a great hobby, but no animal wild or my own pet will harm my or anyone elses children on my watch