I want to hatch some Orpington eggs and I have a variety of colours in both hens and roosters. I would like to separate them into groups and need some advice on which colours should go together. I'm not looking to add or get rid of any at this time. Here's what I have. Hens - 6 buff,1 red, 1 lavender, 1 black, 1 splash pullets-1 cuckoo lemon, 1 buff carrying cuckoo gene Roosters- 1 buff, 1 cuckoo red, cockerels-1 cuckoo lemon, 1 buff carrying cuckoo gene Also have 4 red sex link that I can put with any leftover rooster.
- 6 buff hens to 1 buff rooster. 1 red hen to 1 cuckoo red rooster 1 cuckoo lemon pullet to 1 cuckoo lemon cockerel 1 buff cuckoo carrying pullet to 1 buff or buff cuckoo carrying cockerel 1 black hen to one buff rooster 1 splash hen to one buff rooster no idea what to do with the lavender. I would keep the red sex links out of it. I think they will just give you a mish mash of color. If you had a black rooster, you could breed the red sex links and the lavender to it. Best, Karen
Thank you very much Karen. Thats pretty much how they are arranged now except that the pullets and cockerels are still all in one group. Looks like I'll be busy building a couple more pens. I really appreciate you taking the time to comment.
Three rivers did a good job matching up the birds. Two suggestions that I would add. the red sex links would work with the buff or cuckoo red, cuckoo lemon, buff cuckoo- this is a good combination especially if the red sex links have white tails and white in wings producing lavenders cuckoo red x lavender = F1 basic barred blacks that carry the LAV gene ( males will carry one barring gene) hatch 5-10 offspring Select a good looking F1 male and back cross to lavender parent = BC1 offspring some will be lavender or lavender barred (should be interesting) other BC1 will be black or black barred hatch 20 or more offspring Cross a male BC1 lavender offspring to a female BC1 lavender offspring to produce all lavenders / to produce more barred lavs just breed barred lav to barred lav- the lighter colored male offspring will carry one barring gene ( they should look like the father). you can introduce genetic diversity by crossing lavender to a black ( not from lav line) then back crossing to a lav
