Previously I've had production reds, EE, and commercial white leghorns (egg farm retirees- one of which turned butch and started crowing). Got some nice olive eggers from the prod red and the EEs- nice temperament and decent layers. The retired leghorns were still fantastic layers of HUGE eggs- hatched some out from the production red roo (he was the only roo in the pen) and they made beautiful babies- chicks were white with black spots and they got to about 12 weeks old before the fox killed them all- by then they were strong white chickens with a few random black feathers- heavier than a leghorn, but lighter than a production red.
Got my pen fixed now- have 11 production reds (looks like 4 roos), and 13 red sex link pullets. Kind of sat to know that the red sex links are productive for two years and then get sickly and get poor, but at their rate of egg production, I suppose it takes its toll. I'm very interested in crossing in another breed for chick hatching out next year that would add great DNA to the pool and keep perpetuating from that pool in order not to have to order or buy chicks afterwards. You guys are the experts- so I figured I'd seek your input on what you guys would think is the direction I should take:
1) Don't want to cross in white leghorns again because as gorgeous as the chicks were, too much white in and around the pen seemed to attract predators.
2) I LOVE Black Minorcas- can't find anything about people's experiences with crossing them with production reds or red sex links. Thinking that if I could get my hands on a roo, I could cull my production red roos (dumplings or gumbo) and cross them with the production red hens and the red sex link hens and have a nice bird with good size and eggs. Otherwise I could get a half dozen Black Minorca hens and keep a couple of production red roos and only incubate the Minorca eggs and not worry about incubating any brown eggs.
3) Orpingtons have such a sweet personality, but not sure about their egg production- retired birds from F1 and subsequent generations could be used for baking hens, gumbo, or dumplings or pot pie. If I had a red orpington roo and no production red roos, then I could be free to incubate anything and know I had a cross if he'd be the only roo- and could use some great genetics with the red stars and production reds alike.
4) Black Copper Marans- love the egg color- not sure about production. A roo or two crossing with production red and red star would probably give great colors and hybrid vigor and pass on some of the brown egg coloration.
5) Thought about the mahogany leghorn- too light weight to cross in.
6) Thought about EE or Americauna- prefer brown eggs.
Figured if I don't do anything and leave the production red roos with the prod red hens and red sex link hens, crossing back the RSL to production red can't be too bad, and the prod red to prod red will breed true.
Got my pen fixed now- have 11 production reds (looks like 4 roos), and 13 red sex link pullets. Kind of sat to know that the red sex links are productive for two years and then get sickly and get poor, but at their rate of egg production, I suppose it takes its toll. I'm very interested in crossing in another breed for chick hatching out next year that would add great DNA to the pool and keep perpetuating from that pool in order not to have to order or buy chicks afterwards. You guys are the experts- so I figured I'd seek your input on what you guys would think is the direction I should take:
1) Don't want to cross in white leghorns again because as gorgeous as the chicks were, too much white in and around the pen seemed to attract predators.
2) I LOVE Black Minorcas- can't find anything about people's experiences with crossing them with production reds or red sex links. Thinking that if I could get my hands on a roo, I could cull my production red roos (dumplings or gumbo) and cross them with the production red hens and the red sex link hens and have a nice bird with good size and eggs. Otherwise I could get a half dozen Black Minorca hens and keep a couple of production red roos and only incubate the Minorca eggs and not worry about incubating any brown eggs.
3) Orpingtons have such a sweet personality, but not sure about their egg production- retired birds from F1 and subsequent generations could be used for baking hens, gumbo, or dumplings or pot pie. If I had a red orpington roo and no production red roos, then I could be free to incubate anything and know I had a cross if he'd be the only roo- and could use some great genetics with the red stars and production reds alike.
4) Black Copper Marans- love the egg color- not sure about production. A roo or two crossing with production red and red star would probably give great colors and hybrid vigor and pass on some of the brown egg coloration.
5) Thought about the mahogany leghorn- too light weight to cross in.
6) Thought about EE or Americauna- prefer brown eggs.
Figured if I don't do anything and leave the production red roos with the prod red hens and red sex link hens, crossing back the RSL to production red can't be too bad, and the prod red to prod red will breed true.