Chicken...what if....

[hereiam]

....I happen to have a rooster by accident. And what if this rooster is a Partridge Rock. And the hens are as follows: Barred Rock, Americauna, Buff Orpington, Light Brahma, and Rhode Island Red. What happens if the roo makes the eggs fertile and one of my hens is able to hatch a clutch of eggs. What do I get?? Mutt chickens or what!!????

This may be a dumb question, but I really don't know what happens. Are they just cross chickens, sex links...?? Or do they turn out like they do in the movies where all but one of them look like the mama and then the ornery one looks like the daddy? :razz:

[Summerthyme]

They're called "barnies".... plain old barnyard chickens. They can make interesting birds, are generally pretty tough, and probably will make good broody hens and setters.

Basically, they're "mutts", but unless you're planning on showing chickens at the fair, it doesn't matter. Raise up the cockerels for fryers, save the pullets if you want more layers, and enjoy the variety!

Summerthyme

[hereiam]

Cool! Glad to know. Now if I can just keep my 12 year old daughter from wanting to see what sort of mixed birds we can come up with. ;) She's my livestock agriculturalist.... I'm the green thumb. :mrgreen: