Mixed flock versus single breed flock - pros and cons? Which do you keep?

[shelbyw]

I got a whole big mixed flock (29 chickens and no more than 4 of the same breed), and i love all of the variety of egg and feather colors.

I currently have 22 chickens, just sold 3, and plan on gathering 8 more chicks in August . I to have no more than 4 of the same breed except for my silkies. I have 3 currently and I am getting 5 more which is apart of the august thing

 

[igorsMistress]

I have a mixed flock. It's nice to be sble to tell one chicken from another for various reasons, especially if someone is ill or needs monitoring. It's really a personal preference though.

I have quail and chickens. While they don't comingle, the quail are in an aviary in the yard my chickens run.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I would say yes they're still the same breed just not an approved variety.

On the technical aspects I mostly agree with you. Breed SOP's were written so the judge knew what to look for when judging chickens in shows. I agree color/pattern doesn't make a breed, all the other stuff does, but approved color/pattern is part of the SOP. It can get a little muddled. I knew a lady working with a consortium to try to get a new color/pattern of Ameraucana approved. Once they introduced the color/pattern genetics their emphasis was to get back to the stuff that makes them Ameraucana, the color/pattern can be perfected later as long as they keep the correct genes in the mix. People saying that if an Ameraucana is not an approved color/pattern then it is not an Ameraucana but just an EE is what got me started thinking about what constitutes a breed in the first place.

Just because you can come up with a way to cross some color/patterns and eventually come up with an approved variety as far as showing doesn't mean you can for a lot of crosses. And they won't breed true, different colors/patterns will show up for a while. If you cross color/patterns they may technically be part of a breed but are they purebreeds since they don't breed true to color/pattern? Not in my opinion.

Where this came up was that one reason to keep a certain breed instead of a mixed flock was that sale value of hatching eggs or chicks can be better if you go purebreed. That value or even the ability to sell will diminish if you mix color/pattern of the same breed. I may have been able to word it more precisely to be technically correct but I think that point is still valid.

I agree it would be better if the person doing the breeding understood what constitutes a breed and selected their breeding chickens with that in mind but that takes a breeder to know what to look for. As long as they advertise them as hatchery quality and not show quality I don't have a problem with it even if they are not breeding to show standards, but yeah, that's not really conserving the breed.

 

[The Moonshiner]

On the technical aspects I mostly agree with you. Breed SOP's were written so the judge knew what to look for when judging chickens in shows. I agree color/pattern doesn't make a breed, all the other stuff does, but approved color/pattern is part of the SOP. It can get a little muddled. I knew a lady working with a consortium to try to get a new color/pattern of Ameraucana approved. Once they introduced the color/pattern genetics their emphasis was to get back to the stuff that makes them Ameraucana, the color/pattern can be perfected later as long as they keep the correct genes in the mix. People saying that if an Ameraucana is not an approved color/pattern then it is not an Ameraucana but just an EE is what got me started thinking about what constitutes a breed in the first place.

Just because you can come up with a way to cross some color/patterns and eventually come up with an approved variety as far as showing doesn't mean you can for a lot of crosses. And they won't breed true, different colors/patterns will show up for a while. If you cross color/patterns they may technically be part of a breed but are they purebreeds since they don't breed true to color/pattern? Not in my opinion.

Where this came up was that one reason to keep a certain breed instead of a mixed flock was that sale value of hatching eggs or chicks can be better if you go purebreed. That value or even the ability to sell will diminish if you mix color/pattern of the same breed. I may have been able to word it more precisely to be technically correct but I think that point is still valid.

I agree it would be better if the person doing the breeding understood what constitutes a breed and selected their breeding chickens with that in mind but that takes a breeder to know what to look for. As long as they advertise them as hatchery quality and not show quality I don't have a problem with it even if they are not breeding to show standards, but yeah, that's not really conserving the breed.

I hear you.
I did the show thing for years so I get all that. I know how that world feels about keeping colors pure. Living life too long with that idea brain washed into me is most likely the reason I work with crossing patterns and love it so much now.
I see the SOP as you stated except I don't see the varieties as part of the breed as much as an extention of the breed kinda deal. For me the SOP is for the breed and to know what is needed etc. etc. But the I see after all that comes the varieties. Like the next level. Like in shows. It starts with the varieties of a breed then works up to the breed. You have to have the breed stuff then you have the varieties. Varieties don't take away from the breed they just break the breeds into different colors.
IDK if that makes sense like I'm trying to make it.

 

[Shadrach]

I find it interesting that even in this very small sample of chicken keepers there are a couple who have observed that the same breeds tend to group together. Of course if you have a complete pick and mix then the opportunity to observe this behavior won't be there.

 

[Sweetlilgem]

This is my first time having chickens and I decided on a flock of many colors. Like others, it’s nice to be able to tell them apart and I wanted a variety of egg colors. I have 12 in my little flock..and I love each one and am learning their personalities and loving their differences. The only two I have the same are my Americana Easter Eggers but they are different colors, one is light and the other is orange/brown. I have a Buff Orpington and a Lavender Orpington, a RIR, a Sapphire Gem, a Barred Cochin, a Buff Brahma, an Amber Link, a Prairie Bluebell Egger, a Black Australorp, and a Blue Laced Red Wyandotte!!! So far I believe they are all Pullets, however I am suspicious that my LO may be a handsome Roo. Only time will tell.. if it’s true he’ll be the handsome king of a handful of beautiful girls!! I am so living my chicks... 6 are in the coop/run and 6 are getting big in the brooder!! I spend some quality time with each set everyday and they are all getting comfortable with me and my daughter and are so much fun and a joy to be around!! Maybe we’ll fall in love with a specific breed in this go round, however I really love the diversity and there are just so many great breeds out there I feel like I want one of each, lol!!

 

[Wolfefarmyard]

This rather depends on what you call a 'significant change'. From domestic to feral in one or two generations with breeds that have supposedly had broodiness and tree roosting inclinations bred out of them and are supposedly completely dependent on human care I would call a significant change.
Oh, and btw, chickens are not and never have been birds.
Current science has them as descendants of ground dwelling dinosaurs with arms where they now have wings.

I knew they were descendants of ground dwelling dinosaurs, but they are in fact still considered birds.

I'd love to see where you read about new research that stated that they weren't.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

This has been an interesting read.

I've had chickens twice in my lifetime, and each time had a mixed flock. The first time was because I bought someone's flock and that's what it was. We were in it for the eggs and it suited us fine. Some of those hens lay blue or green eggs, which we found delightful.

This time, I've had chickens primarily for tick control, plus eggs of course. Over the last eight years I've had a few different breeds, but have now gone almost exclusively to EEs. White Leghorns go immediately to coyotes. Buff Orpingtons are sweet, calm and beautiful, but too broody! The Brown Leghorns I bought this spring are not just "flighty," they are terrified of everything. I won't get BLs again. I might consider Marans again.

I like my EEs. They are calm, hardy, sensible birds. They do their jobs and don't fuss about it. They lay well into their 6th or 7th years. And yes, birds. Anything with feathers is a bird. If velociraptor had feathers, he may have been a dinosaur, but he was also a bird.

 

[Shadrach]

There is no need to do any research, you will find in any species biology book that chickens among some other species are designated as Fowl which is the correct term.
Why they are categorized differently to birds will take some research.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I could be wrong, but it seems to me that "fowl" applies to birds we eat, or birds whose eggs we eat, in general. These could be domestic or wild, land or water and could include anything from emu to duck to guinea, chickens, turkey, partridge, quail and many others. Not included would be birds like songbirds and raptors not generally used by humans. Those birds mostly generally domesticated could also be called "poultry." But all critters that have feathers are birds, whether they can fly or not. As I said, I am no authority on anything, whether words or birds, this is just my understanding.