Wise decision

[gunslinger33]

I’m curious if I made a wise decision. I have 7 Bielefelders and 3 Chocolate Cuckoo Orpingtons. I have 1 roo Biel and I believe I have 1 roo Dbl barred CCO. My though was to use the Orp roo for some genetic diversity in my flock. Then go back to the Biel. I wanted to pair size , temperament and similar egg production.

Thanks

 

[Mrs. K]

What you will get is chickens. And truthfully they will probably be just fine. I am not quite understanding "Pair size"? Genetics can be fun to play with, but to truly get a significant change in crossbreeding, you need to working with hundreds of birds.

That being said, generally speaking, the more diversified your flock is, the more cross bred it is, the more poor traits become evident. But this will happed over several generations of birds. A lot depends on how close to the standard are the birds you start with, and a bit of luck.

If you just want to have fun, and see what happens, that is fine and what most of us do. If you want to be more scientific, well you need to keep careful track of weight, egg production, time to maturity, bone structure and broodiness.

Mrs K