Raising Different Breeds

[chicken5]

New here..Right now, I have 40 chicks about 8 weeks old. Thirty of them are standard breed. Ten are what I call "mixed". I know there's a better name, but can't think of it. Anyway, my question is in regards to the chicks that are mixed. My chickens and roosters are free-range. So, basically, I'm not sure who is breeding with who...Are those chicks just as good as the others that I ordered and know the breed? My mixed are beautiful, but to some people think they are odd in appearance. They sure don't look like the "norm"! I hate to fence them by breed just to get true breed chicks.

 

[joletabey]

It depends. If you are just interested in eggs, it doesn't matter if your"mutts" are mixed with your breeds. But if you plan on selling eggs or chickens of a certain breed, then you need to know so that you don't tell people you are selling a certain breed and it ends up being a cross. For instance, if you told me you were selling me Delaware eggs, and I ended up with red chicks I would be pretty upset.

 

[Lollipop]

If all you want is eggs and yard ornaments, you should be fine keeping them together. If you decide you want chicks from a particular breed, just pen a few hens and a rooster together for a month and then start collecting eggs. It takes about 3 weeks to rid the hens of other roosters "infuence", so a month is a "for sure" thing. Have fun.........Pop

 

[chicken5]

So, basically if I'm not selling "hatching" eggs or baby chicks, it really doesn't matter. But, if I was to sell some chicks to "the neighbor down the road", I would just have to tell him they are "mutts". And, make sure he isn't looking for standard breed chicks. Do I have it right?

 

[HEChicken]

"Standard" refers to size, not breed. I.e. there are standard size chickens and bantam sized. So a mutt can still be a "standard" size chicken. You can still sell the chicks but you would want to disclose that they are mutts. For egg production it makes no difference - the neighbor who buys your mutts will get just as many eggs from a mutt chicken as they would have from a purebred. And if you are selling the eggs for eating, there would be no need to disclose that the chickens who laid them are mutts at all.

 

[Brindlebtch]

Yup. You got it!