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I'll try to be a little more precise. The flaw to me, way more than the differences in hatcheries, is the differences in breeders. Your question assumes all breeders are the same. They are not. It depends on what they are breeding for. Productivity in their later years is not a concern to someone breeding solely to win a grand prize at a chicken show. Some may not even want a productive hen at any stage of her life. If they are breeding a yellow legged breed, for example, a productive hen will lose the pigment in her legs, which loses points in judging. There was a recent thread about this. To get a strain that has good color in the yellow legs, they will actively select against good egg layers. Not specifically because they lay well, but because by laying well, they don't have good leg color.
A recent poster said he only bred 3 year old hens because longevity of production is one of his goals. I have not seen many posts where that was mentioned as a goal.
Some breeders of Ameraucanas for show don't worry about egg color. The judge cannot tell what color eggs they lay, so it is not a criteria. If I got a chicken from his prize winning strain that laid white, brown or green eggs, I'd be disappointed, even if it was show quality. Some people would be very glad to get it. To many breeders of Ameraucanas, egg color is important. It depends on the breeder and what the goals are. I'm not criticizing anyone. It depends on what that breeder's goals are.
There are clearly differences in chickens from different hatcheries. I've seen a discussion in a recent thread about the specific qualities of Speckled Sussex from different hatcheries. There are clearly differences in chickens from different breeders. I'm not even talking about the people that get hatchery chicks, breed them, and sell them as purebreeds when they don't even know what the SOP's for that breed are. I'm talking about breeders that know what they are doing and are are good enough to achieve what they want. There are very clear differences in hatchery chicks and breeders' chicks. You don't go to a Volkswagon Dealership and expect to fined a Lexus at Volkswagon prices.
Back to the original question. Just because you get chickens that lay better later in life from one breeder does not mean that all breeder's chickens will lay well later in life. It depends on the specific breeder, what his goals are, and his breeding strategies.
I'll try to be a little more precise. The flaw to me, way more than the differences in hatcheries, is the differences in breeders. Your question assumes all breeders are the same. They are not. It depends on what they are breeding for. Productivity in their later years is not a concern to someone breeding solely to win a grand prize at a chicken show. Some may not even want a productive hen at any stage of her life. If they are breeding a yellow legged breed, for example, a productive hen will lose the pigment in her legs, which loses points in judging. There was a recent thread about this. To get a strain that has good color in the yellow legs, they will actively select against good egg layers. Not specifically because they lay well, but because by laying well, they don't have good leg color.
A recent poster said he only bred 3 year old hens because longevity of production is one of his goals. I have not seen many posts where that was mentioned as a goal.
Some breeders of Ameraucanas for show don't worry about egg color. The judge cannot tell what color eggs they lay, so it is not a criteria. If I got a chicken from his prize winning strain that laid white, brown or green eggs, I'd be disappointed, even if it was show quality. Some people would be very glad to get it. To many breeders of Ameraucanas, egg color is important. It depends on the breeder and what the goals are. I'm not criticizing anyone. It depends on what that breeder's goals are.
There are clearly differences in chickens from different hatcheries. I've seen a discussion in a recent thread about the specific qualities of Speckled Sussex from different hatcheries. There are clearly differences in chickens from different breeders. I'm not even talking about the people that get hatchery chicks, breed them, and sell them as purebreeds when they don't even know what the SOP's for that breed are. I'm talking about breeders that know what they are doing and are are good enough to achieve what they want. There are very clear differences in hatchery chicks and breeders' chicks. You don't go to a Volkswagon Dealership and expect to fined a Lexus at Volkswagon prices.
Back to the original question. Just because you get chickens that lay better later in life from one breeder does not mean that all breeder's chickens will lay well later in life. It depends on the specific breeder, what his goals are, and his breeding strategies.
