What mix is he?

[KristyAnn]

What would him and a mix of New Hampshire hen look like also what are the pros and cons of that mix?

 

[donrae]

I'm not sure what he is, but he looks very light and gamey. Crossing him with a New Hampshire hen would probably give you offspring with mixed red and black colors. If he does have game blood, the female offspring may not be the best of layers but may have a chance of going broody. The male offspring won't be very meaty to use as table birds.

 

[fosterson]

Not sure what mix he could be (how big, how old, where did you get him), but I'd lay odds on most of his chicks to be red and look a lot like their mammas. You might also get 'duck wing' markings, which is pretty close to the wild jungle fowl, but with the RIR hens, they'd be more red than gold.

 

[KristyAnn]

What you guys think bout him and a leghorn?

 

[fosterson]

Leghorn's going to give you a lot of white and red/white birds. They'll be small and gameyish (most Leghorns aren't huge), but you'll probably get some decent layers out of him.

 

[Wyandottes7]

What you guys think bout him and a leghorn?

If you bred him to a leghorn, you'd get slightly better egg production in hens. The color would depend on the variety of Leghorn crossed with him.

What exactly are you looking for when crossing him? Better egg production, meat birds, etc? If you want good layers, cross him with a Leghorn. For a slightly heavier bird, a cross with a Rhode Island Red, New Hampshire, or Plymouth Rock would be good. If you're looking for more of his same size/appearance, breed him with another game/game cross hen.

He's a pretty boy!

 

[BantamLover21]

What you guys think bout him and a leghorn?

Any resulting hens from the cross would probably be better egg layers than their parents, though not quite with the extreme egg production of a purebred leghorn. Depending on the color of leghorn crossed with hen, the color could range from similar to their father, white with some black, barred, partridge, and many more. You never really know what you will get when you cross two breeds, or even varieties.

Good breeds to cross with him for egg production could include Leghorns, production-type Rhode Island Reds, Australorps, or a sex-link of some sort. You could get a more dual-purpose bird by crossing him with a heavier breed, like Rhode Island Red, Orpington, New Hampshire, Plymouth Rock, Jersey Giant, Wyandotte, and Sussex. For hens that will be good mothers and go broody often, cross him with another gamebird (most gamehens are excellent broodies), Cochin, or Silkie. If you want birds with unique looks, cross him with a Polish, Faverolles, Naked Neck/Turken, or a frizzled bird. Or to simply get some random colors, try crossing him to a mixed breed.

 

[fosterson]

I think what you breed him to is entirely up to you. If you're going for 'looks', then breed him to hens you like the look of and be happy. If you're looking for egg production, breed him to hens who are gonna lay a lot of eggs AND give you some chicks to boot Just remember that half your hatch is gonna be cockerels. Unless you're me, and with my luck, I'll put up 12 eggs and get 13 cockerels

 

[KristyAnn]

Good advice! Thanks. Anything else that comes to mind?

 

[Wyandottes7]

Good advice! Thanks. Anything else that comes to mind?

Just a consideration that game breeds can be more agressive than other birds. Even if he isn't that mean, if you breed him to another bird, the resulting chicks could grow up being meaner because of their game bird heritage. Not all game birds are mean, especially to humans, but they can be meaner to the other birds.

However, if he has a good temperament, he should pass that on to his offspring, so this may not be a problem.