MariaB Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 Getting my first ever chickens at the end of this month. Really looking forward to it and my lovely run is being made by the wonderful Tony who I believe a lot of Omlet owners have used to make their runs.I was wondering if any one can help me with a question. I want to get about 4 chickens to start but don.t know if I should get all hybrids or all pure breeds or can I mix the two or will the pure breeds beat up the hybids or vice versa. I was thinking of Sussex & Marans for the pure breeds. Does any one know if these can be mixed with the hybrids? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 we have a mixture and have not had a problem there are so many breeds to choose from and I think its quite nice to have an assortment of different breeds. I would be confused if I had all the same type! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 I started off with two omlet hens and two pure breeds. They were fine after the initial sparring My pure breeds were probably not a good match for the omlet girls with hindsight (at least initially). The araucana was very nervous and the campine was a bit smaller and quite flighty, but they were fine in the end. The sussex and maran sound ideal - decent sized birds and not likely to be nervous or flighty! Go for it I say Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyren Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 Hi Maria Lucky you - Tony lives not far from me, but I have yet to broach the subject of walk-in runs with the LSH As long as they are roughly the same size, you should be fine with a mix. Some large breeds don't get on well with bantams or other small breeds such as silkies, but most are OK with hens their own size. Sussex seem to be a placid breed, but I'm not so sure about Marans, as I have heard mixed opinions on them - Miss Pepperpots are part Maran and based on the posts here they do seem to be a bit more aggressive than the Gingernuts. It really depends on the individual hen, though - there are rogues and bullies in most breeds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariaB Posted April 7, 2008 Author Share Posted April 7, 2008 Thanks for your replies. Going to see a breeder later this week so will ask them what they think as they sell all types of pure breeds and hybrids. Cant wait to get them in the garden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 No probs at all. My Buff Sussex and my Marans get on really well. They are great girls and a lot of fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...