I know of a woman that is only 50 miles from here, (in western SD that is considered almost a neighbor;-) that has 2 speckled sussex hens. I want some of those eggs for my Butter, who just went broody. Not pure bred, but what they hey, close and cheap. She also has red comets, red and black star hens, would those eggs be ok to hatch out? I have my on EE roo, and a mix bag of hens, so will be putting some of those eggs under her too. Is the second generation, any good in laying from the crosses? That is my main question. Mrs.K
First generation, second generation, whatever does not really matter. Pure bred or mutt does not matter. If the parents are good egg laying stock, the offspring comes from good egg laying stock and will probably be good egg layers. Some breeders do not breed for egg production but have other goals. A common goal is to win the grand championship at a chicken show, but their goal could easily be something else. You can get a beautiful chicken from them that meets the SOP, but that chicken could easily lay a lot less than is normal for that breed. Or if they concentrate on egg production, they may lay more than normal for the breed. It is possible that you could get a boost in the first generation due to hybrid vigor, but you can get the same boost in the first generation from crossing two different mutt flocks that are a bit inbred. And that boost fromn hybrid vigor may not be in egg laying if it is there at all. It could be some other trait, like fertility, health, or vigor. And there might be no boost whatsoever. Hope this helps a bit.
My sexlink cross babies laid well and early. I would go for it. If you dont like their laying later on, sell them. I like mutts they can be so pretty.
