Why do people cross breed there chickens?

[kees]

This may sound like a really silly chicken but if people separate their chickens before breeding them, why do some people cross breed their chickens? Are these chickens then recognized as a new breed?

 

[Guitartists]

No.... it takes paperwork, years of breeding and careful records and established traits to create a new breed.


People do it because it's interesting to see what you'll get. Like little gifts in the shape of eggs

hehehe

Or because they are looking for a better trait in a breed that they have. Lots of reasons actually..... the only real reason (I can think of) NOT to do it is if you show or sell hatching eggs, etc.

 

[hinkjc]

Every new breed is made up of carefully selected "other" breeds. Some folks will cross breeds to try to create a breed that is not yet recognized. Others do it to improve faults on the existing breeds. Crossing in another breed takes time to work out the kinks and get the "breed" you're working on back to standard. I don't think it is a bad thing. And then there are some who do it just for fun..to see what happens when genes are crossed to keep life interesting.

Jody

 

[pokey]

just think if nobody ever came up with something a little different, a little cuter(or ugly). i think some of the prettiest(and weirdest) are mixed breeds. just think how peeved darwin would have been to get to the islands and find the same ole turtles and lizards we have here.........

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Hi Kees! I can only answer for myself, but *I* cross because some things I want to see in a chicken are not available (or don't exist).
I want a 'giant' dark-skinned blue Naked Neck bird that has a mellow disposition.
There is no 'breed' that covers all those traits.

All my other crosses all have the same pertinence.

They are not just random crosses, but specific, planned crosses,.
I hatch many eggs, knowing I *might* get one chick from the cross that will be useful for the *next* generation.
Once in a while, there might be an accidental cross that will lead me in a new direction --- but for the most part, the crosses were thought out years ago.

Lisa

 

[Katy]

I cross my welsummer hens with my Marans roosters. Their pullets lay nice dark eggs, but don't go broody all the time like my Marans do.

 

[fowltemptress]

Quote:
Ooh! Good idea!

 

[onthespot]

I have some silky/marans crosses. i bought them that way but plan to keep them going, because I want them to be as broody as possible, but also to lay as dark as possible of an egg in between broodiness. The barred bearded EE hen I plan to cross on marans roo to get olive eggers. The general egg laying flock is in with the marans roos, but I have no plan to hatch any of their eggs. Anyone interested in marans roos crossed with turkens, barred rocks, buff orpington, jersey giant or RIR, by all means let me know! LOL I just have them in there to take the pressure off the two actual marans hens so they do not get trodden excessively.

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

I crossed some birds to get new varieties in a breed. An example is my crele phoenix. By next year my crele phoenix will have crele OEGB, barred leghorn bantams, and light brown phoenix bantams in them. It looks like the barred leghorns have some plymouth rock in them so who knows what all breeds my project really have in them, lol.
Then there are some accidental crosses. We have some little bantams that are pets and we let them free range and it seems that they will hatch out one or two clutches of mixed breeds. If they are pullets and are pretty we keep them and they end up making more mixed babies.

 

[Mahonri]

We are all waiting to see how Miss Prissy or those who get her birds develop Red orps!