Not sure if this is the right section for this topic, if it is not maybe someone will move it for me. I have possibly 3 roos, light sussex, splash marans and a silkie, i am thinking in the spring to hatch some chicks and wonder which would be the best to keep for breeding. I am mainly looking for good egg layers, my girls are; rir, blue marans and ixworth which is a large dual purpose english breed. So which roo should i keep and what hen's eggs would be best to hatch from to give me good layers? I only want to keep the best roo for the job as i currently do not have enough hens to go round for 3, also i don't want to upset my neighbours by having 3 noisy roos. Tia
I would go with the light sussex. I have a coronation sussex trio, and the rooster is just a big teddy bear.......A silkie roo isn't going to be good for production, and neither is the marans. Just my opinion... Sharon
When making a cross it is very difficult to determine the results. There is the factor for hybrid vigor but this tends to only work when the original stock is high inbred. Are you working with hatchery stock?
I would not use the Silkie, partly because they are not normally known to be great egg layers but also because they go broody so often. They don't lay when they are broody. I am fully aware that some Silkies lay great and that some don't go broody all the time, but I'm talking about breed tendencies. If you know enough about the flock he came from to know that his flock does not follow breed tendencies, then you have more information than I have. Of the other two, I think it is almost a flip of a coin. Good egg layers tend to breed good layers. If you know anything about the egg-laying tendencies of their parents, then you can make a better decision. If no further information is available, which rooster do you like the best?
I would avoid using your silkies. Again, they would just bring out the traits in future generations you do not want. If you had SQ stock, I would say go for it. Since your silkies are not the best of quality, I would just keep them as broodies to hatch out your other breeds. I don't recall seeing your light sussex. Can you post images? You don't want to work with hatchery stock. You will have a better chance selling access chicks/eggs if they are good quality birds.
My favourite is my light sussex who is 14 weeks old, he is very sweet, well atleast he is at the moment and i hope he stays that way lol, not sure as yet on the splash/blue? marans as he is still quite young at only 7 weeks old, but already he seems to peck me when ever i go in the brooder to fill the feeder and waterer. Did not really want to use the silkie for breeding but thought i would add what roos i had for comparison. I only want to keep 1 roos and it's looking likely that it will be Romeo the light sussex. I will get a picture of him tomorrow and post it here.
They will go through a hormonal stage between 6 months - 1 year. I would avoid handling them at this time. You want them to respect you and be at least a little leery of your presence. You don't want him to see you as one of his girls. I have heard many times over not to handle your roosters. Sometimes pecking is curiosity. Kind of like babies with putting everything in their mouth.
It looks likely i will go with the light sussex. What can i expect if i mate him with rir's and blue copper marans?
