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Question on how chicks are bred

Discussion in 'Chicken Behaviors and Egglaying' started by servingChrist247, Sep 8, 2008.

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  1. Sep 8, 2008 #1
    servingChrist247

    servingChrist247 Hatching

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    I had a hen lay some chicks. I took them away from her because the cat was killing them one by one. I raised them from a couple days old and now they have been changing colors. She is a Nanking and I have a Rhode Island Rooster. I figured they would have a mixture of the two. I looked up the breeds on the Backyard Chickens and found out that I have 2 Plymouth Rock hens, two that look like RIR, a Nanking roo and a gray colored one. I don't want to sound uneducated when I ask...how does this happen? [​IMG] I know it couldn't be mis-breeding. We live on a dead end road and there are no other roosters. Thank you to anyone that can clear this up for me.
     
  2. Sep 8, 2008 #2
    hcammack

    hcammack Crowing

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    did she sit on just her own eggs? or other breeds to?

    Henry
     
  3. Sep 8, 2008 #3
    Heather J

    Heather J Songster

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    Could she and the rooster be mixed breeds? If so, some of their other genetics might be coming through on the chicks (like a red-headed child coming from blond parents--it happens).
     
  4. Sep 8, 2008 #4
    LilPeeps

    LilPeeps Songster

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    She probably hatched out eggs from all the hens, that's why you're seeing different colored chicks.

    Do you have pics of your birds? [​IMG]
     

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