My next chicken project is to breed two small flocks, one for Vicky and one for my son. I want good layers and the ability to sex link their offspring. I can do this by using Rhode Island Red cockerels and Light Sussex hens. Both are good layers and also good table birds.
This cross (called a gold/silver cross) is the basis of all commercially reared chicken in the UK, giving the ability to sex the offspring as day old chicks by the colour of their down. The obvious advantage here is that you are not feeding unwanted cockerels for 6 months until they can be sexed, unless you want to rear them as table birds, in which case you know which ones to feed for the table. The other advantage is that the egg laying ability of both parents (which is already quite good) is significantly improved genetically in their offspring by a factor of around 50%.
The offspring are generally called Rangers or Warren and are the most prolific egg laying hybrids, laying around 320 eggs a year.
Anyway, that's the theory. Looking forward to testing it.
Great post!
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