A Family Guide To Keeping Chickens by Anne Perdeaux Read Free Book Online Page B

blue eggs. They are usually medium-sized birds so they fit comfortably into standard accommodation.
Considerations when choosing hybrids
    • Increased productivity comes at a price. Hybrids come into lay at around twenty weeks, and continue laying well for their first year or so. Then output starts decreasing and may cease altogether after three or four years.
    • While some hybrids may still be producing an occasional egg at a grand old age, hybrids don’t usually live as long as pure-breeds.
    • The early and intensive start to egg production can leave hybrids vulnerable to laying difficulties.
    • Hybrids can’t match the pure-breeds for glamour. They don’t have interesting features such as muffling, beards or feathered legs – but then these features can require extra care.
    • Although hybrids are generally docile with people, they may bully their companions in a mixed flock, especially if it includes some timid breeds.
    • Cockerels aren’t usually obtainable and hybrids don’t ‘breed true’ – if you breed from hybrid hens, the result will be cross-bred chicks.
Selecting Your Hybrids
    Many hybrids are based on top traditional egg-layers, the Rhode Island Red or White Leghorn, with other breeds being added to produce interesting colours of both hens and eggs. The same types of hybrid may be sold under different names, depending on the breeder. These are some of the most common but new varieties are always being developed and you may come across several others.
    The best-known hybrids are the light-brown hens used by commercial egg producers. The ISA Brown can be expected to lay over 300 eggs in its first year(ISA stands for Institut de Sélection Animale – the French company that developed them).
    Other hens of this type are the Warren, Goldline, Gold Star, Lohmann and Gingernut Ranger. These aren’t exclusive to the egg industry and are widely available.
    These hens are ideal for the beginner, being docile, friendly and, of course, very productive! You can buy them as pullets (young hens) and there are also various organizations that re-home ex-battery hens.

    A Gold Star
    The Black Rock is a black hybrid with chestnut feathers around the neck. Bred for free-range (and not so suited to a confined run), they are hardy and productive, often laying and living longer than other hybrids.

    Lohmann Browns
    Black Rocks have been developed by one breeder over many years and there is only one hatchery – The Black Rock Hatchery in Scotland (see Further Reference). You may find hens from various sources being sold as Black Rocks, but unless the supplier is registered with the official hatchery, they will not be genuine. Cockerels are never released for sale.
    Similar in appearance to the Black Rock are the Rhode Rock and the Bovans Nera. They are also hardy, productive layers of light-brown eggs.

    Black Rocks

    Rhode Rock

    The Black Star hybrid is similar to the Rhode Rock and Bovans Nera
    The Columbian Blacktail is chestnut coloured with a black tail and sometimes neck feathers. Waitrose sells light-brown eggs from its own free-range flocks of Columbian Blacktails. This is a hardy breed, placid and a good layer.
    If you fancy blue eggs, choose a Skyline hen (the Columbine is similar). These hens often sport a head tuft and colours vary through grey/blue to cream/brown. Not every hen will lay all blue eggs but a large proportion of them do – other eggs may be pastel shades. Pretty shells come at the expense of quantity: these hens are not as productive as some of the other hybrids.

    Columbian Blacktail
    The Speckledy may also lay less than some other hybrids but the eggs are often speckled brown, and the hen is attractively mottled in dark grey and white.
    Laying mostly brown eggs, the Copper Black is a black hen with coppery neck feathers. It is based on the Marans breed (just to confuse matters there is also a pure-breed Copper Black Marans).

    Skyline

    Skyline eggs

    Speckled Star – similar to the