Well all in all my Leghorns ended up being an awful experiment. The boys are still small bug see thier last dawn tomorrow (I'll let you know what they weigh when I am done with them) and the one girl is laying me lovely white eggs at 35g each *sigh* I am really hoping the they increase in size as she gets older but I'm not holding out hope for large eggs.
On the other hand the hybrids that came from a mixed up ebay egg order matured into two boys giving me 1.4kg and 1.7kg roast chickens and a girl giving me 65g Brown eggs.
When I get bloodiest next year I am thinking of putting this hen's (Brienne) under them as my Cockerel is a hefty big fella too.
Would that be foolish? I am utterly new to chicken breeding but on the face of it they are both big birds (she went straight into top hen position the day she joined the flock) and she is laying well. Do I just keep eggs at room temperature until I have a broody/enough for an incubator?
Dans
No one will stop you from trying to cross them! Just let them do it and see the results!
Yes you can store eggs in the cool place, but not the fridge as really low temperature can damage them.
Everywhere I read, the eggs start to loose their chances to hatch after 10 days. Any more time after that and they are less likely to hatch. However, I have hatched eggs which were waiting to start incubation for more than two weeks.
I want to get some Leghorns again! The one I had was laying the most massive chicken eggs I've ever had! Obviously as a young pullet her first eggs would be smaller. I've noticed the first end quality affects egg size a lot.
Btw i just read your blog! I reminds me of me feeding all my animals! When I realised my wife is giving birth, the first thing I did was to lock the hens so I don't have to worry about them later in the evening!
Now we have a 19 month old future farmer who starts to "baaaaah" in every shop whenever he sees picture of sheep goat or... dog lol
Plays with toy chickens and ducks and wears his little wellies when we go to feed the geese and rabbits.