Pics of BO x EE

[10AcreChick]

Does anyone have any pictures of what pullets and cockerels will look like when mixing Buff Orpington and Easter Egger breeds? I have 9 chicks (and more on the way!) that are a mix of both breeds, both BOxEE and EExBO because I have one rooster of each breed. I would like to get some pictures for comparison, so I can tell which ones are pure BO and which are not. Pretty sure I won't be able to tell the pure EE, so not worried about that. I'm assuming the pure BO will be obvious since they are uniform in color. Is this a correct assumption? Working from hatchery stock!

Please, any pictures would be much appreciated!

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Easter Eggers come in a LOT of different feather patterns, so it would be hard to say what they will look like.

Straight combs are recessive so if all your EEs have pea combs then your pure BOs should be the ones with straight combs, though it could be possible if you have EEs that are previously mixed with a straight comb breed to get an EE x BO mix with a straight comb.

Things that are dominant: white skin (BO), muffs (EE), pea combs (EE).

If it has yellow skin = no BO.

If it has muffs = at least half EE

If it has a pea comb = at least half EE

If it has a straight comb and white skin = very likely pure BO though not guaranteed

Those are just a few clues. I will post back if I think of any more.

 

[10AcreChick]

Easter Eggers come in a LOT of different feather patterns, so it would be hard to say what they will look like.

Straight combs are recessive so if all your EEs have pea combs then your pure BOs should be the ones with straight combs, though it could be possible if you have EEs that are previously mixed with a straight comb breed to get an EE x BO mix with a straight comb.

Things that are dominant: white skin (BO), muffs (EE), pea combs (EE).

If it has yellow skin = no BO.

If it has muffs = at least half EE

If it has a pea comb = at least half EE

If it has a straight comb and white skin = very likely pure BO though not guaranteed

Those are just a few clues. I will post back if I think of any more.

Thank you! That is exactly what I was looking for! I am mostly just concerned about being able to tell which are pure BO pullets, as I need a few more "mothers" and layers who I will not butcher but keep as mothers of my future BO slaughter flocks. The EE or cross pullets I will decide to keep based on looks and what color eggs they produce (no brown allowed!)

Any advice on the best time to butcher a cockerel of this cross? I'm guessing they will be a little bigger than a pure EE, just not as big as a BO. At any rate, I am not in need of more roosters, so all the cockerels will be butchered this fall. 20 weeks? 24? or when they are not gaining any more weight? I'm not opposed to "chicken stock" birds.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

It really depends. I grow my cockerels for as long as I and the girls can tolerate them, which means sometimes I have to start weaning down the numbers as young as 16 weeks. TBH though, I have grown some out to 6 months and mainly saw increase in fat rather than meat. Granted, fat gives more flavor, but I tend to use mine for soup anyway. If I was roasting them or cooking them on the grill then maybe I would care about the additional fat, but in my case it all just gets boiled off anyway.

Depending on how many you end up with and how much room you have, I would play it by ear. Its aggravating to walk out and see 5 cockerels ganging up on one hen. Her screams of protest towards one brings the others running and it becomes a competition to see who can be the one to carry forth genetic material. The cockerels mature much faster than the pullets, so your sexually mature pullets will get tore up. They will also try to mount young pullets as well. My five-month-old serial rapist cockerel, Black Jack Randall, was trying to manhandle one of my 7 week old pullets yesterday.

If you have a separate area for them, grow them for as long as you like, especially if you don't mind slow cooking. I don't recommend longer than 6 months though, and 5 is better. At a certain point your feed to meat conversion becomes more feeding and less converting.

 

[10AcreChick]

It really depends. I grow my cockerels for as long as I and the girls can tolerate them, which means sometimes I have to start weaning down the numbers as young as 16 weeks. TBH though, I have grown some out to 6 months and mainly saw increase in fat rather than meat. Granted, fat gives more flavor, but I tend to use mine for soup anyway. If I was roasting them or cooking them on the grill then maybe I would care about the additional fat, but in my case it all just gets boiled off anyway.

Depending on how many you end up with and how much room you have, I would play it by ear. Its aggravating to walk out and see 5 cockerels ganging up on one hen. Her screams of protest towards one brings the others running and it becomes a competition to see who can be the one to carry forth genetic material. The cockerels mature much faster than the pullets, so your sexually mature pullets will get tore up. They will also try to mount young pullets as well. My five-month-old serial rapist cockerel, Black Jack Randall, was trying to manhandle one of my 7 week old pullets yesterday.

If you have a separate area for them, grow them for as long as you like, especially if you don't mind slow cooking. I don't recommend longer than 6 months though, and 5 is better. At a certain point your feed to meat conversion becomes more feeding and less converting.

I have a "mobile" coop (an old trailer up on an axle and tires, we used it as our first coop) that I am planning on rolling into my fenced enclosure out the back of the regular coop. I can put more roost bars in it, take the nests out, and use it for the cockerels. The enclosure is 625 sq ft. I am going to have about 30, I think. I have 47 more eggs in the incubator right now. My regular flock is free range, I only use the enclosure when breeding or retraining on egg laying location. I have heard that when they don't have hens to fight over, they get along better. The pullets can stay with the regular flock until I choose which to slaughter. Think that will work all right?

And yeah, I had too many roosters one time, and three of them would gang up on a pullet. It was an awful thing to watch. 5 months sounds like a good time for slaughter, August 5th would be slaughter date.