Raising one breed or more

[anconaduckman]

Greetings everyone,

New member here. My background comes from dogs and breeding dogs and so that is my frame of reference. When you have a breed you want to only have that breed for breeding to keep them purebreds.

Does this translate to chickens?

I have been doing my research and have narrowed it down to 2 or 3 chickens breeds. If I want to have a perpetual chick stock do I need to keep all of the same breed? The breeds I have narrowed it to are the Australorp, Wyandotte and maybe even the Delaware. What happens when I have 2 hens each and 1 rooster as a Australorp? This is in regards to breed traits and egg laying ability. I am thinking its best to keep one breed or maybe if the breed is similar which those two are in terms of egg laying, weather tolerance, egg size, dual purpose and broodiness that they will be okay. But if I sell some chickens it would probably be better to have the "purebreds."

Also one bonus question

Is there anything I should know that the backyard chickens breed section doesn't tell me about the above two breeds. I am looking for dual purpose, quiet/docile, hardy chickens for homesteading and small farm use to include foraging and garden maintenance. If you only had to choose from one of those which one stands out more for these traits?

Thanks

 

[Judy]

This is really a matter of preference. If you have good breeder stock, you may want to keep them separate, at least when collecting eggs for hatching. There is something to be said for preserving good lines of heritage breeds. Plenty of people mix their breeds, though, particularly with hatchery stock. To some degree your stock is likely to benefit from "hybrid vigor" if you do.

 

[anconaduckman]

So it sounds like I can have two breeds and allow them to make just good egg layers and chickens but I can separate the rooster and his hen (same breed) when I need or want some purebreds? So the win win situation is have a couple breeds and then separate when needed.

Also how does hybrids or mixing introduce vigor and is there any downsides to mixing? Lastly, are their certain breeds that mix well? What about the two mentioned above?

Thanks again.

 

[LeJeune1]

With 2 or more roos, all you have to do is separate the roosters, leaving only the one you want to produce pure breeds. Having more than 1 breed is fun, and useful. For example, if you have Dominiques (Brown eggs) Leghorns (White Eggs), and Ameraucanas (Blue Eggs), you can tell what breed laid the egg- a color sorting if you please. To breed true, just leave the 1 roo you want to procreate with the ladies ) Have fun!

 

[anconaduckman]

With 2 or more roos, all you have to do is separate the roosters, leaving only the one you want to produce pure breeds. Having more than 1 breed is fun, and useful. For example, if you have Dominiques (Brown eggs) Leghorns (White Eggs), and Ameraucanas (Blue Eggs), you can tell what breed laid the egg- a color sorting if you please. To breed true, just leave the 1 roo you want to procreate with the ladies ) Have fun!

Okay that makes sense. If you don't mind, one more question, could you elaborate on your phrase, "Having more than 1 is fun." I understand the egg color thing but what are some other advantages to having multiple breeds? Any practical use?

Much Thanks.

 

[LeJeune1]

Practical- - - -hum- - it more work. but with 2 or more breeds, you can continut to produce 2 pure strans and 2 hybred strans. Also, different breeds have different personality traits that some folks prefer.

 

[Oregon Blues]

I've had show dogs all my life and have always had 2-3 breeds at the same time. So I am going to start right out by disagreeing with you. You keep your dog breeds pure by locking the girls up in Fort Knox whenever they are in season.

I keep 2 breeds of ducks, show quality. At the first of the year, they are separated into different quarters and not allowed to socialize. That way, all of my eggs are purebred.

At the end of summer, I let them all loose together. Then in January, I separate them again and start collecting purebred eggs in March.

if you want to keep more than one breed of chicken and want purebred chicks, you fence your different breeds into different pens and keep them separated.

 

[LeJeune1]

Oregon Blues, in response to your disagreement, in my example provided above the hens all lay a specific color egg- eg. Dominique's are brown. So if I only want to hatch pure Dominique- I only need to remove the non-Dominique Roo and collect and hatch only the Dominique eggs. I may not have made that clear. To me it is more simple and less space demanding )

 

[AlvinsFinest]

this is easy to do when you want chicks just seperate one hen and one roo into a small pen but dont start to brood the eggs till week four or week three.