What kind of chicks?

[jimz1]

If I get, let's say, 6 different breeds of chickens and 1 altogether different rooster, will the rooster breed with the different chickens or do they know which ones to breed with? And if they do fertilize the eggs would I get some offshoot breed or chicks with defects or something bad like that?
I'm really new to the "chicken thing" and would like to learn as much as possible. The people I know with chickens have all the same breeds, and never really thought about it.

 

[WallTenters]

The roo would breed to all the hens, so all the chicks would be mixed.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

You are unlikely to get birds with "defects" unless you are comparing htem to the standard for a particular breed. However, what you get will mostly be mixed breed chicks. If you do have one or more hens of the same breed as the rooster, yes, you will get some purepreds--chances are you will easily be able to tell which are which, so long as you know the breed traits.

 

[cashdl]

A rooster knows exactly which hens to breed with - all of them. They don't really care about color or breed. I know a huge BCM roo that launched himself on a banty araucana. It was not a pretty sight. Fortunately for her, she figured out to outrun him.


Lanae

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
They will do it the other way round, too. And successfully, I might add. Much better to have a tiny rooster on a large hen--her egg size wll accomodate teh smaller chick that should result. Not such a pretty sight when the hen is the tiny one. Her eg size is unlikely to be large enough for a larger chick.