Cross-breeding for egg production

[Cammo77]

Hi all, I'm just wondering about cross-breeding heritage breeds to increase egg production. If you put a rooster from a breed with higher egg production over a hen with less will it increase the egg production of the offspring? If so will it be by much? I have some Hyline hens and am not chasing egg numbers like them but am looking around the 250 eggs per year type number. The heritage breed I have now lays around 200 and the cross I was looking at lays around 300.

 

[sourland]

Hybrid vigor should result in increased production to some degree.

 

[Cammo77]

Hybrid vigor should result in increased production to some degree.

Thank you. I guess results would be fairly variable unless you were line breeding.

 

[RememberTheWay]

I thought hybrid vigor only had to do with health and immunity not production?

Hybrid vigor should result in increased production to some degree.

 

[Cammo77]

I thought hybrid vigor only had to do with health and immunity not production?

I imagine those two would go hand in hand anyway. I'm not sure how they breed the commercial layers, whether they're an F1 or an actual hybrid but none of the heritage breeds used to breed them lay as many eggs as them.

 

[Jessgitalong]

Breeding for intense egg production is something I imagine must be finely tuned for a chicken to stay healthy at the same time. I’m adding wild jungle fowl genes to my backyard flock since hatcheries are backlogged right now. I feel like it’s safer than repeatedly using my own stock.

It may result in fewer eggs, but it should also result in fewer inputs for a healthier flock. Fewer inputs = cheaper eggs for the backyard, non-profit farming operation.

 

[Cammo77]

Breeding for intense egg production is something I imagine must be finely tuned for a chicken to stay healthy at the same time. I’m adding wild jungle fowl genes to my backyard flock since hatcheries are backlogged right now. I feel like it’s safer than repeatedly using my own stock.

It may result in fewer eggs, but it should also result in fewer inputs for a healthier flock. Fewer inputs = cheaper eggs for the backyard, non-profit farming operation.

I'm not sure they give much consideration to health in the intensive egg production world, it's more about profit then anything. They cull hens at 18mths and after buying some of those culls they're lucky to live past 3yo.

I've done a fair bit of reading since I originally posted this and my focus has changed. Whilst I still want a good few eggs out of my birds I'm in the same frame of mind as you and am now focusing on a lower input cost effective flock. I've read Fayoumi and Game fowl are very robust breeds and I'm now looking to add that blood into heritage breeds.

 

[Jessgitalong]

I'm not sure they give much consideration to health in the intensive egg production world, it's more about profit then anything. They cull hens at 18mths and after buying some of those culls they're lucky to live past 3yo.

I've done a fair bit of reading since I originally posted this and my focus has changed. Whilst I still want a good few eggs out of my birds I'm in the same frame of mind as you and am now focusing on a lower input cost effective flock. I've read Fayoumi and Game fowl are very robust breeds and I'm now looking to add that blood into heritage breeds.

I saw someone post a photo of a game fowl. They look a lot like jungle fowl at first glance, which I imagine would indicate they’re bred for health. Fayoumi seem nice. How interesting they are! I would like to know how it goes.

 

[Cammo77]

I saw someone post a photo of a game fowl. They look a lot like jungle fowl at first glance, which I imagine would indicate they’re bred for health. Fayoumi seem nice. How interesting they are! I would like to know how it goes.

The game fowl are pretty close to jungle fowl, more so then a heritage breed like a Sussex or RIR. The game fowl were bred for performance ie stamina, aggression, courage etc so health would of been part of it as a fit and healthy bird would do better in a cock fight. Fayoumi are definitely an interesting breed. I don't know what part in their evolution led them to be so robust but maybe it was they were allowed to free range more or whether it was their environment.

 

[Jessgitalong]

We have wild jungle fowl hanging out around the fenced coop, ready to take over my flock here.

My huge rooster has had his a** handed to him by these wild males, half his size. The big guy is now getting aggressive with my hens. Not liking it.

I’m afraid his half wild offspring won’t learn proper manners with my flock full of grumpy (but sweet to me) RIR’s. He has one half-wild cockerel right now, and I found a wild flock on private property he can socialize and spar with. Sending any other half-wild roosters we hatch over to that flock for schooling, too, if I can.