Looking to start with Hybrids

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DaveP

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Hi, I've keep keeping chickens for a few years now and looking to get a bit more adventurous by trying some hybrids. I started off with Warrens and that got me into chickens and now I also have Buff Orpingtons, Rhode Island Reds, Black Silkies and some Gold Laced Wyandottes.

I was looking at producing my own Warrens, or similar, and on this site I says they are a cross between a Rhode Island Red and a Marans cross. Looks easy enough but what is the Maran a cross between and which is the cock and hen?

If they are books or references on this subject?

Already having the Rhode Island Reds I'll be looking at buying another breed to cross match although I have found the Rhode Island Reds are not that broody. I have chicks from all the others but not them. makes me wonder how they survive at all.

Any advice for starting off on this new experience? Thanks in advance.
 
The commercial hybrids available today are produced by years of working with particular strains within certain breeds and selecting only the best for onward breeding. So in reality just crossing a breed with a breed with another breed won't necessarily get you the sort of bird you desire. It may be that the cross you produce has as many negative traits as positive ones. But people experiment with crossbreeds all the time - that's the fun of it! But if your long term plan is to sell them as "hybrids" you would be deceiving your buyers as they would not be "true". Better to market them as Rhode Island Red crosses, for example.
The classic layer cross, from which many modern hybrids are derived, is a Rhode Island Red cock on a Light Sussex hen. This gives you sexable chicks at hatch so you can cull the males if you desire. If you use a "proper" heavy Light Sussex, and not a hybridised version which are significantly smaller and lighter, then any male offspring will be worth fattening to eat.
There are of course all sorts of crosses you can experiment with, depending on what you want to breed for - layers only, dual purpose, meat only, good broodies etc etc.
Pick your most vigorous young male to partner some big healthy 2 year old hens that have shown themselves to be good regular layers in their first year and you have a good starting point.
 
Thank you for the response.

I don't intend to sell any of my hens so I won't have a marketing issue. I want to get the best hens I can and I want to be self reliant.

I'll have a look at the Light Sussex as it was already on my list and seemed a good choice. Thanks for that pointer.

As I'm looking for providing food I would be looking at fattening up my cocks for the table. However, what is the most humane way to terminate chicks if that is required? Everyone talks about it but nobody gives a good way to do it.
 
Personally I decapitate with a cleaver. I find it quick and foolproof and easy to hold the chick with one hand and chop with the other. Although it's not pleasant, I find it easier to despatch chicks before I have built a bond with them.
 
OK. I can see me missing and not making a clean kill with that method. Chicks are just too small for me to handle in a way to get that done.
 
When I had to cull male quails, which are a similar size to hen chicks, I used a pair of secateurs located over the back of their necks. The secateurs were not to cut the heads off but to give a focused grip for a clean dislocation when the neck was stretched and twisted, as you would for an adult bird under a broomstick. Again, not a pleasant task, but I had found that it was surprisingly difficult to get an instant death when just holding the bird in one hand and using the fingers of the other behind the head. With the secateurs, it was easily possible. There was some blood, so I held them over a bucket lined with a plastic bag to catch any drips. Horrible job, which is partly why I gave up breeding quails!
I think some people recommend holding the chick over the wings in one hand, and striking the back of its head hard against the edge of a table to give terminal concussion.
 
Like others I use secateurs but just cut through the spine in the neck. Apart from some nerve related kicking they are dead instantly. For young chicks I use scissors and decapitate them.
So far as hybrids are concerned though what everyone has said about selected strains being used is undoubtedly true, any crossbreed has hybrid vigour so is a pretty good layer.
There are a number of matings one can do to give sex able chicks.
Gold Male x Silver Female
Chocolate Male x Black Female
Black or Red Male x Barred Female

Some breeds are partially sex able eg Dominiques but only with about 80% accuracy.
 
I just just decapitate with my hands, they have no strength in their neck muscles at that age and it is a very easy job, you just give a strong pull, but scissors, cleaver etc all do the same job as mentioned. Nobody seems to know exactly what Marans developed from though I've seen Croad Langshan, Faverolle and Barred Rock put forward as being in the mix at various points. You never quite know what you will get with crossbreeds and the individual parents are very important. The best one I have managed was a cross between Faverolle cock and Leghorn hen which produced incredibly friendly docile chickens (which was big surprise) but were also decent layers (which wasn't).
 
DaveP said:
Thank you for the response.

I don't intend to sell any of my hens so I won't have a marketing issue. I want to get the best hens I can and I want to be self reliant.

I'll have a look at the Light Sussex as it was already on my list and seemed a good choice. Thanks for that pointer.

As I'm looking for providing food I would be looking at fattening up my cocks for the table. However, what is the most humane way to terminate chicks if that is required? Everyone talks about it but nobody gives a good way to do it.
Click to expand...

We tend to grow most of our males on, but occasionally if I don't want to (depending on the breed/size) then they are culled as soon as they are sexable. I use a sharp knife on a chopping board, same as if I was cutting up a (dead!) piece of meat. Tiny chicks barely bleed and I personally don't find doing it traumatic, it's just a shame they have struggled for hours to get out of the egg only to be culled because they are male. I often think it's harder to cull a mature bird who you've got to know, even if they have been destined for the oven from the start.
 
OK. thanks for that info. That sounds like a much better way for dispatching them if I ever need to do so.

I'm going to grow then rather that cull them at this point but it is good to know we have a clean and quick method to dispatch them if it becomes necessary.

I'm just sourcing a couple of Little Sussex. So begins my foray into genetic manipulation. Thanks for that as well.
 
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