Not A Poll Just Curious

[Somewhere_In_The_Clouds]

I like having a mix of breeds, outside of breeding I try to run most of them together.
I currently have Sussex and Barnevelders, then there's three crossbreed hens. I also have two silkies but they don't run with the others because I have too many boys right now.

 

[5Australorpasaures]

Why keep them seperated? Is your plan to breed all year round for shows or to sell offspring chick(en)s?
You only need to separate them from a month prior to collecting the hatching eggs till you gathered enough eggs for the incubator or a broody.

I started with one breed (Dutch) in different colours. Now I have several bantam breeds because I was curious for other breeds, like to have eggs in winter too and like it to be able to recognise my individual hens.

I have let two different breeds range together if their colors/pattern complimented each other. Now seeing all the blue/lavender birds I'm thinking I should have maybe done things different years ago. Having one breed I think, was ingrained in me because my grandmother who kept RIRs exclusively. I do lean solid color birds, too many patterns makes things too busy for me, Now at 72 I'm thinking, what difference does it make? Open the doors and gates and we'll see what happens, just so they're solid color, maybe Bar Rks at the most, being I'm dealing with chickens, I've made up my mind, oh wait I've changed my mind.

 

[RubelliteRose]

I have a mix in my flock - EE, OE, Dominique, Speckled Sussex, BCM, Silver Leghorn. I was thinking about eventually transitioning to single breed flock, but I realized that I love them all and can't choose just one breed

 

[StinkyAcres]

I love keeping a variety. Makes the individual chickens and their eggs easier to identify. And having just one breed/color is boring!

 

[Evadig]

I have four chickens, each a different breed. I love having a display of color dotting the backyard and each of them have such distinct personalities. I don’t have a rooster so I don’t have to worry about crossbreeding.

 

[Cloverr39]

I wanted to only have 1 breed. But then I randomly got isabel bantam brahma chicks and of course had to keep a hen because she was just so pretty and one hen surely wouldn't mess with my purebred flock. Especially since her eggs are different from the others. Then I decided to hatch some of her eggs for fun. That resulted in the prettiest chickens I had ever seen. Of course I had to keep one pullet. Then I got a cochin egg sent as an extra. I had always wanted cochins. And so my funny little frizzle cochin hen joined the flock. At this point I was done adding other breeds to my silkie flock. (Although I have to admit I really want Wyandottes). Until I got the idea of developing my gorgeous silkie mixes into their own breed. Now I have around 20 silkie/brahma mix pullets and cockerels. I will eventually split the coop in two and have silkies on one side and everything else that isn't a silkie on the other. I hope the fertility in my silkies will improve because right now all my silkie roosters seem to favor the non-silkie hens. I love the variety, but I hate having to guess weather the eggs came from a silkie or something else when I mostly only need to hatch silkies.

 

[citymeetscountry]

Interesting question. I’d venture to say I like mixed. We’ve only hist added to our original. Our first 6 were mixed 2 Leghorns, 2 Barred Rock and 2 Asian Black. For the most part that actually looked like 2 LH, 1 BR, 1 AB. I brought home 3 EEs and the AB is gone now. I like the different personalities and colors. When I got the EEs I almost got 1 of each breed they had avail at the store but the lady said they had 3 EEs out and said they had better temperaments than some of the others. So far I really like my EEs but they’re only 9-10 weeks old.

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

I love having a mixed flock! But if i had to choose one breed to have out of my flock it would be Orpingtons or Brahmas!

 

[5Australorpasaures]

Why keep them seperated? Is your plan to breed all year round for shows or to sell offspring chick(en)s?
You only need to separate them from a month prior to collecting the hatching eggs till you gathered enough eggs for the incubator or a broody.

I started with one breed (Dutch) in different colours. Now I have several bantam breeds because I was curious for other breeds, like to have eggs in winter too and like it to be able to recognise my individual hens.

Just want to avoid any rooster egos flaring.

 

[MamaBearGardens]

I had the best of logical intentions as a new chicken mama: I would get all one breed to start (Australorp). Then, next year or the year after, I would add a new small batch of another breed (Ameraucana or Buff Orpington were the theoretical frontrunners). Then, I would know the age of any given chicken, because i would know what year that breed came home.

What actually happened: three or four weeks before my order from the hatchery was due to ship, my insomniac perimenopausal brain went haywire with rainbow egg envy, and I changed up my order to include Ameraucanas, Cuckoo Marans, Whiting True Green, and White Pearl Leghorns so I could have diverse egg colors. Lol, the best laid plans...