[Azzdodd]

Next year I plan on starting a breeding programme to produce sex linked chicks. What breeds does everyone go for? I know the most common is RIR ROO on LIGHT SUSSEX HEN I fancy running a few different groups along side each other....I'm going to build coops along side each other. The females with be sold as pullets about 12 weeks old and the males fattened and in the freezer

[HesterF]

I know this isn't your question but by 12 weeks you can tell most breeds apart. I've got Orpingtons which are notoriously difficult to sex but I reckon I'd have 90% right at 12 weeks. So would you not be better picking the best breed for pullet sales prices/cockerel eating quality and general ease of breeding? My only sex linked birds are the geese which doesn't help you much, sorry!

H

[Victorian Farmer]

bared rock road ...........silki sussex gold cock .....blue black marran road .........silver lace wyndotts road ..sussex road  thats the 1s i do .You should get the best road stock you can utilatey i have 3 lots hexam duram and scotland for eggs hatch very erley .iv sold 4 silki roads for £80 in thainstone this march nice hens .Im very intrested in sex linkt hens like the cream leg bar burreford brown dolley blues etc

[landroverroy]

I was going to say the same as HesterF.
The whole point of the sex linked thing is that you could then dispatch the cockerels as day olds and didn't have to feed them for several weeks till you could distinguish them.
Given that your project is presumably to get a good price for your pullets and have something worth putting in the freezer, you will only be producing crossbred pullets with nothing special to commend them, and nice tasting cockerels for your freezer that you could have puchased cheap from someone else who just wanted rid of their own young males.
Just a suggestion - why not choose a heavy breed that really appeals to you - like for example Faverolles. There's plenty of others but I'm just giving them as an example as they were specially bred originally for the Paris meat market. You can get £15 upwards (easily) for your pullets as they are a rare breed, reasonable egg layers, and will breed true;  but you'd struggle to get that for your cross breeds, which won't breed true and therefore have no unique breeding value to the purchaser. In addition you'll produce table birds worth eating.   

[Steph Hen]

As others have said, cross bred pullets don't have as much value as pure breds. I had originally planned to raise all my males for the freezer, but goodness! what a lot of food and time that takes for not a lot of meat!
I would only do this with a meat or dual purpose breed, which may not be what the pullet market wants. Now I just kill my males as and when I can tell they're males (although I currently have three buff sussex boys, and a marrans that I don't much plan on keeping perminently!

[Raine]

 


We hatched cream legbar at out last house (as we couldn't keep cockerels).  Easy to tell which is which and beautiful blue/green eggs from the girls.  The boys all went to feed a friends hawk.

[Azzdodd]

Thanks everyone for your input I'm going to get pure RIR and some cream legbars

[Steph Hen]

Where about are you? I have some RIR growers 6 weeks old and a baby cream legbar cockeral (came from Ireland) if you might be interested sometime? I'm in Angus.

[Bodger]

I breed Welsummers x Light Sussex. The resulting females lay a good quantity of brown speckled eggs.

[Stereo]

Pure RIR will give you a decent table bird. CLB's are great but mine don't half squak!