I just hatched my first 5 baby chicks, and with chicks comes the pondering of the universe and life in general, along with some more specific wonderings.
My rooster is a big, beautiful Welsummer. 5 chicks hatched, 2 being from a light Brahma, 2 from an Easter Egger, and 1 from a black-sex-link. All of the babies look like chipmunks, so that trait obviously carried over from dad. Will these chicks look similar as they grow as well? Is there any way to tell sex early in these cross-breeds?
I also have begin to ponder the future of my little pseudo-farm. I will likely now have a few more hens moving out with the chickens, which is great. However, the rooster is father to these hens, and my guess is he will be breeding with them. I know they don't necessarily care that much about inbreeding, but should I care? I know I shouldn't just keep breeding chickens straight down the line, and I'm not a breeder anyway, but come next spring when I want to hatch a few more eggs, should I avoid the eggs laid by the new girls, as there is some father-daughter genetic craziness going on there?
Finally, do chickens have any familial ties whatsoever? Will the mothers of these chicks (hatched in an incubator, no broody hens right now) recognize them in any way, or will these chicks be purely strangers to my current chicken community?
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
My rooster is a big, beautiful Welsummer. 5 chicks hatched, 2 being from a light Brahma, 2 from an Easter Egger, and 1 from a black-sex-link. All of the babies look like chipmunks, so that trait obviously carried over from dad. Will these chicks look similar as they grow as well? Is there any way to tell sex early in these cross-breeds?
I also have begin to ponder the future of my little pseudo-farm. I will likely now have a few more hens moving out with the chickens, which is great. However, the rooster is father to these hens, and my guess is he will be breeding with them. I know they don't necessarily care that much about inbreeding, but should I care? I know I shouldn't just keep breeding chickens straight down the line, and I'm not a breeder anyway, but come next spring when I want to hatch a few more eggs, should I avoid the eggs laid by the new girls, as there is some father-daughter genetic craziness going on there?
Finally, do chickens have any familial ties whatsoever? Will the mothers of these chicks (hatched in an incubator, no broody hens right now) recognize them in any way, or will these chicks be purely strangers to my current chicken community?
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!