Which breed of rooster and hen should a newbie get?

[bald k9]

Hello I have 19 girls ,RIR, BO, DOM ,BROWN LEGHORNS,JERSEY GIANT, SLW,BARRED ROCKS,white leghorns, what would be a good breed rooster to mate with which paticular breed of hen that i have for the hen to hatch the babies, Does that make sense?, I would put them in seperate pen/coop.. I would like to try this with the kids thanks for your input and EGGSpertise

 

[greathorse]

In my opinion your buff orp is most likely to go broody for you... Others may but I think Buff is the best odds. She can of course hatch any eggs you set under her so take your pick. If you have roosters use the one you like best and see who goes broody for youl.

 

[bald k9]

I dont have a roo yet ,I would like to know which breed of roo or does it matter, I would like to end up with pretty babies ,not abunch of muted brown birds,

 

[barred-rocks-rock]

I LOVE barred rocks ( hint ) ( read my username) , but I think greathorse is right. The Buff orpington is your best chance.

 

[bald k9]

OK the BO hen it is ! Now which breed of rooster would be a good type to get some pretty feathering in the offspring? As I see a lot of young roos on craigslist aroung here ,and it would be great bonding for the kids and us, Thanks for any and all input and color choices!!!

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

The breed that most appeals to you in terms of personality, appearance and traits that are important to you.

I really don't like this question--it is like saying, what colour should be my favourite, or what kind of food should I like the taste of best or some other question that asks an opinion that will be applied to your own personal preferences. There is usually no right answer.

 

[barred-rocks-rock]

i AGREE

 

[bald k9]

how long from mating to egg and do I just leave them alone til we see chicks? This will be a family project thanks again

 

[Ridgerunner]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If your only goal is to get beautiful chicks, then I'd suggest getting a rooster that you think is nice looking and put him with all your hens. When and if you have a hen go broody, give her an assortment of eggs to hatch. You may get some muted browns, as you describe them, but with your assortment of hens, you will also get some nice looking chicks. These will be mutts, not pure bred, but I personally like mutts. If you want chicks that look exactly like their parents, then you have to mate only chickens of that specific breed. It will not matter which rooster you get as far as your hens going broody. Either they will or will not go broody, whether a rooster is there or not.

I would suggest you do not get a solid black or a solid white rooster as those colors may be dominant and all your chicks could all wind up looking like their fathers. And some patterns, like the barring of a barred rock will show up in the first generation offspring but some patterns, like the mille fleur of the Speckled Sussex, is a recessive gene and will not show up in the first generation.

I think a Rhode Island Red rooster with a Barred Rock hen gives striking cockerels but the pullets are not that attractive to me. I'd be willing to bet others feel differently about their appearance. I mention this to point out that the cockerels and pullets in the offspring can look quite a bit different, even with the same parents.

If you have purebred chickens, you can determine what the pullets and cockerels will probably look like with practically any cross in the first generation. That is how you get sex links using speciific breeds. But if you then raise the first generation and cross them with each other, you can get a wide variety in the appearance of the offspring.

I just saw your latest post. I'll post this then respond to your latest.

 

[greathorse]

Find a rooster that you like for any personal reason, color disposition body type etc. With 19 hens it will likely take two to make sure all hens are bred. There is nothing you can do to get a broody hen, they will do that on their own. When a hen begins to show broodiness, she sits on the next all the time, pecks and sqwauks at you when you try to take her off it is then time to either put eggs under her or leave eggs under her whichever is your choice.

You have a bit of a problem in that if she is still with the other hens they can force their way onto her nest and add eggs or if she gets off someone can come on the nest and the hen may move to another nest. Your best bet is to wait until you have a broody hen, and when she starts to "set" you wait until it is night time and move her and her eggs to another protected area. It is best if you can move the entire nest with the eggs and broody in it. For example if your laver box is a five gallon bucket move the whole works.

If you are interested in engaging in this process yourself I suggest you get out your google finger and do a bunch of research on broody hens and work with what you learn. You can also do a bunch of site searches on this site, but it you have absolutely no experience or base knowledge you have a good chance of something going wrong for you in the process.

If you think about it in steps
A. Make sure you have fertile eggs (get roosters your choice)
B. Collect eggs and eat them or use them to your hearts content It is possible in not probable that you wont have a broody until spring
C. It is possible (not as likely) that none of yours will go broody
D. They will go broody when you are least prepared or expecting it.
E. Pay attention to the broody behavior and confirm it
F. Put eggs under broody and try to get her separated from the rest of the layers. Up to 15 eggs is probably ok 8 to ten is probably better
G. Wait 21 days from the time she first started setting and let her raise the chicks

You haved very little control over this entire process let nature tell you what is going on.
Most importantly do some research buy, borrow, go to the library and get some information.