Mixing breeds

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Geordonbuck223:

First, it's the same thing repeated in 4 languages, so just focus on the English options (the others are German, Dutch and French. Annoying.) It will probably be easier to click on "Show Examples" and then clicking on the illustration that best matches your birds. Then scroll down and select "Calculate Crossings" and it will give you the illustrated genotypes right underneath.

The second easiest would be to go to the page "Help, pick color by list". You can get a better idea of what some of the less familiar colors mean via google, of course. The calculator isn't 100% accurate but it seems to be good enough for the enthusiast breeder to base initial choices on.
 
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olderoo said:
Here is something for you to read along these lines

http://journeytoforever.org/farm_library/ppp/ppp6.html
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To the Original Poster: I would like to encourage you to also seek out other breeding information that will give you a more complete view. While I am the last person to cast dispersions on an old book containing tried and true information from around 1910 (as is the one above), a lot has happened in poultry breeding in the last 100+ years.
 
donrae said:
I've never had anyone on this board or elsewhere say anything bad about my mixed breed birds. I have a base of Leghorn, EE and barred Rock and have mixed and matched over the years, adding a few other breeds as they struck my fancy. As long as you breed responsibly, it's no one else's business. To me, responsible breeding includes the following: You have homes or a reasonable expectation of selling the offspring. This includes the 50% roosters you're going to hatch out. There's no forever home with rainbows and green pastures for a ton of roosters. You don't breed birds with defects, birds that are prone to illness or are generally unthrifty. You don't breed birds with bad temperaments. Other than that, have fun! How else would I have gotten these pretty, unique birds...
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That is the prettiest rooster I have ever seen in the bottom pic, kudos to you.
 
earlyredrooster said:
That is the prettiest rooster I have ever seen in the bottom pic, kudos to you.
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Thank you! He's earned the privilege of a name, quite rare for roosters around here. Eric is currently in a breeding pen with some barred Rock hens and the pretty hen pictured above him (barred Rock X SLW, best I can figure) to make some cute black sex link chicks....as soon as I get an incubator up and running. He's the one I posted somewhere recently about being down on my hands and knees in the coop and being glad I have a trustworthy rooster. He could have nailed me hard, but he never ever made a move.
 
Spangled said:
To the Original Poster:  I would like to encourage you to also seek out other breeding information that will give you a more complete view.  While I am the last person to cast dispersions on an old book containing tried and true information from around 1910 (as is the one above), a lot has happened in poultry breeding in the last 100+ years. 
Click to expand...

"Tried and true" about says it all.
 
olderoo said:
Quote:
Well, I think there's a bit of tried and true information about heterosis (aka hybrid vigor) that isn't included in that book because the book is so antiquated. All the work ... um ... what's his name ... Wallace did with inbreeding (and inbred crossing) of Leghorns in the 40s isn't included, along with the tried and true information concerning others' results of inbreeding ... namely getting inbred chickens to lay 16 days earlier than chickens of the non-inbred foundation stock, etc., etc., etc. That's just a small sampling of what has happened in the last 100+ years since the above book was written. The Original Poster stated that they were only interested in meat and eggs. Hybrid chickens (ISA Browns, Commercial White Leghorns, sex-links, Stars, Comets, etc.) lay more eggs than purebreds a majority of the time, though longevity can sometimes take a hit. How best to put that info to work in the Original Poster's backyard is anybody's guess. (Crosses of any purebreds often get a little bit of a heterotic effect according to the "rules.") I can't in good conscience neglect to mention that there is a bit more to the story than is presented in Profitable Poultry Production [circa 1910] by Kains, though I love the book for what it is ... a slice of Americana with lots of great information for the poultryman trying to make a living 100+ years ago. I can't be adamant about anything, though, because what works in Kain's poultry farm or my backyard or Wallace's laboratory likely won't work in the the Original Poster's (OP) backyard and the OP probably wouldn't want it to!

Original Poster: You may want to go over to the "Meat" section of BackyardChickens.com and see if it would be quicker or more economical to buy some chicks bred to produce meat efficiently. Some folks think that raising "dual purpose" chickens (Orpingtons, Plymouth Rocks, Australorps, etc.) for meat isn't cost effective and results in tough, skinny chickens only good for soup. Everybody's got an opinion on which breeds to grow (or not grow) for meat, and I'm not sure exactly what you're looking for when you mention that you only care about meat and eggs, but you'll hear additional info about "meat" at the Meat section of this website.
smile.png
Best wishes.
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A good point made about hybrid vigor. In essence that is what we, and Mr. Kains are both referring to.
He does not call it THAT specifically, but his entire premise drives towards it. From care of parent stock to selecting the best birds for breeding, it is the undercurrent of his work.

It would be remiss, then, to suggest the idea that hybrid vigor is a wholly modern concept. It was a well known phenomenon in the days before Mr. Kains, if not widely widely practiced. The very reason we have the wide range of "vintage" breeds today is because of the intensive efforts of men like Kains to improve the vigor of Americas flocks at large. We had fallen behind the rest of the world and our nations flocks were more ragtag than robust. Many men made it their lifes work to see American poultry farmers improve both their reputations and their financial health through better practice and hybrid breeding.
Today, we take it all for granted; but I can assure everyone here that Maurice Kains didn't.

As the OP was interested in developing and enhancing his flock as it stands, it seems prudent to put into his hands a tool designed for that. Sure, you have to account for the age of the book and do a bit of reading through the lines. But if our friend were to follow nothing else, and knowing nothing more but Mr. Kains' advice... I'm betting he could achieve his aims of reliable, vigorous eggers.

It is a very good thing, that you introduced the term - "hybrid vigor" - into our conversation. Thank you.
 
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