What Breeds Are Crossed to Create the Golden Comet?

[farmgirlsomeday]

Today I brought home a new chick to join the three others I'm currently raising (a Blue Copper Marans, a Black Star and an Australorp). She's a three day old Golden Comet hybrid, and she's a beautiful very pale pumpkin color with an interesting greenish cast to the skin right around her eyes. I had thought that Golden Comets were a cross between a Rhode Island Red and a Leghorn. However, the Coop where I bought her told me that theirs are a cross between a Rhode Island Red and a Rhode Island White. This may be an utterly stupid question, so please forgive me if it is, but wouldn't that make her a Rhode Island Something as opposed to a Golden Comet? Confusing things further, I've now read online sources that say that a Golden Comet (also called a Cinnamon Queen) is a cross between a RIR and a Delaware. So I'm just curious whether anyone can clear this up for me. Maybe any of these crosses with a RIR are called "Golden Comet?" Thanks for any info on this.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Golden Comet is not a registered name, so far as I know, so different breeders/hatcheries can and do use it for their various crosses of breeds or hybrid strains usually for red or buff sex links...

 

[donrae]

Red sex link is any chick bred with a red (gold) rooster over a white (silver) hen. This cross gives gold females and silver males. Red sex link is like a generic name, like say "facial tissue". Gold comet, Cinnamon queen, red star, etc are all brand names, like Kleenex, Puffs, etc. So, different sex links can be bred from a variety of different crosses. Most common rooster is a Rhode Island Red, and common hens are Delaware, light Sussex, Rhode Island Whites, colombian Wyandottes (I think). Leghorns aren't usually used because they have dominant white, that messes up the sex linking.

So, you don't necessarily know what breeds made your particular hen. You do know she'll be reddish with white tips and tails, guaranteed female, and a great layer of big brown eggs.

 

[Fred's Hens]

In many cases? Even the parent stock and in some cases, the grand parent stock isn't a "breed" at all, but specialized strains used to produce these high flying layers. It makes nice press to say on hatchery websites that they are a cross between "this" and "that", but this is usually merely marketing of some verbiage the consumer may comprehend.

Enjoy them for what they are. A very specialized hybrid designed to lay lots and lots of eggs, in a very short period of time.

 

[rancher hicks]

A few things that you might find interesting.

While the Rhode Island White carries the name Rhode Island, it is not related to the Red.

Too commercial egg layers are "designed" to lay a consistent and uniform egg. Even the thickness of the shell is bred for. Notice too when you crack open a store bought egg the yellows are consistently the same, yolk size, and whites. All the same, by design.

While "Hybrids", which is what GC, Cinnamons etc. etc. are, they are more prone to health problems. This according to Practical Poultry magazine.

I never recommend them to those who want chickens for pets. They are what the industry calls "Terminal Birds". Meant to lay lots of large eggs in a short time and then "terminated"..

I wish you well,

Rancher