How high can a chicken jump?

[l_ouise]

Hello.

 

I am trying to figure out what to do with my land and i am enjoying my chickens so much that i was thinking maybe breeding chickens and creating my own hybrid "breed" might be a lot of fun.

 

I was just wondering if anyone on here had done something like that and what you was aiming for when selectively breeding and how it is turning out.

 

Thanks

[Madchook]

It takes yrs to produce a hybrid, they aren't just hybrids in the sense of crossing breeds, they have to 'breed true' in their own right. This takes many ,many generations, very selective breeding and alot of suplus stock. Hobby breeding to make interesting crossbreeds is different, you wouldn't be able to sell them 'as a breed' though, but there isn't anything wrong with it is you have the ways and means, and can deal with the cockerels

[Lewis]

Yup, I agree . It'd take a lot of time and money to create your own hybrid.

 

If you wanted to go into breeding you could stick to a breed make a crossbreed that has the characteristics you want (eggs, egg colour, colour, meat etc) but don't think it'd be a true hybrid. Like the kind of thing people do when they make chocolate birds

[craftyhunnypie]

I did a cross breed last year. I put my partridge cochin with my gold laced wyandotte. I got an absolute stunner called ' Minime'. She is sort of double pencilled - brown / gold. She has the same comb as her wyandotte mum, but is as large as her cochin daddy. I adore her! I'll try & get some pics tomorrow for you.

 

Emma.x

[Jools]

Cross breeds can be fun to try, or even breeding from two different colours of the same breed.

 

I didn't think that hybrids bred true though.

[Egluntyne]

I didn't think that hybrids bred true though.

 

You are right - they don't.

 

Any crosses that are achieved in the back yard situation are more of a mongrel than a true hybrid, unless you are using the correct rooster/hen combination.

[Madchook]

LOL, no they don't and I do actually know that, I was going down the tangent of creating a 'breed' or even colour, dunno where my brain has gone at the moment. But still, the same thing applies regardless because the generic parent birds of hybrids aren't just your average backyard chook , they themselves have been selectively bred, apparently they are closely guarded hatchery secrets (or so I have recently read). Which makes my orignal ridicuous and factually incorrect statement even more ridiculous I'm sure you can all hold it against me

[Jools]

Nah not me!

 

You did make me question myself though.

[Plum]

l_ouise, why not recreate or support a breed that is at risk. I have a gold Welbar who is relatively rare but the silver welbars are extremely rare.

 

This thread talks about them but if you follow through the links and further links you will find the recipe. Yes it takes generations to perfect it but if you need to get hold of a couple of decent birds to start the hobby but you could find it very rewarding over the years. And I'd love a Silver Welbar.

 

http://forum.backyardpoultry.com/viewtopic.php?p=133295&sid=2e3110a8f9ea7e3b1ebe0edd20f363b7

[Mars]

You can, probably they won't be as good as the one you buy from breeders but generally hybrids are better layers than pure breeds but for shorter laying periods they produce many eggs for about two years then they slow down, Now I am waiting for my white star hybrids to start laying, here are some combinations

White leghorn rooster + light sussex hen = white star hybrid

RIR rooster + light sussex hen= Bovan goldline hen (the ones you see in hens batteries)

Light sussex rooster + RIR hen= amber star

 

As a rule of thumb the hens will come closer to their father and the roosters come closer to their mother. so if you want a white egg laying hybrids get a leg horn rooster and if you want brown egg laying hybrids get RIR rooster.

Note: you can't breed hybrid hen and hybrid rooster and expect reliable results.

 

If you are talking about "New Breed" that is another story, it takes scientists, big companies money and years of research to have any chance of getting a useful new breed.