Hybrid vigor are a phenomenon in biology where the offspring of two breed of chicken that are purebred themselves exhibit better performance than the breeds themselves. The concept of hybrid vigor indicates that the offspring will have improved traits from their parent, resulting in chickens that grow more fast, produce more eggs, and have stronger immune system. People use this biological occurrence to create chickens that will be of more benefit to there farm and farm management processes.
Thus, people that intend to create flocks of chickens that exhibit these beneficial traits should use cross-breeding method instead of using only the purebred breeds of chickens themselvess. One of the method of utilizing the concept of hybrid vigor is the creation of sex-linked chickens. Sex-linked chickens are chickens that can be separated into the males and females of the chicken population immediate after they have hatched their eggs.
How Crossbreeding Improves Chickens
For instance, if a Rhode Island Red rooster is crossed with a Barred Rock hen, the resulting chicks will be sex-linked. The male chicks will have a white spot on their heads, while the female chicks will have solid black feather on their heads. Thus, their sex can be separated by the chicks without performing the laborious process of performing vent sexing to locate the female laying chicken.
These sex-linked breeds of chickens are beneficial due to the fact that their females can be recognized early in their lives, indicating which chicks will lay egg. Another reason that many person choose to utilize cross-breeding techniques is in the type of egg that those chickens produce. For instance, Golden Comet and Red Sex-Link chickens produce large brown eggs at a high rate.
These breeds lay more eggs due to the trait of hybrid vigor increasing the reproductive drive of the chickens. For instance, if a New Hampshire rooster is crossed with a White Rock hen, the resulting chicken will lay many eggs and have calm temperament. Additionally, if a Marans chicken is crossed with an Ameraucana chicken, the resulting chicks will lay olive-colored eggs.
Furthermore, to ensure these crossbred chickens produce many eggs, those chickens should be fed 16% protein layer pellets and oyster shell to provide the calcium that is necessary to form their shell. In addition to the benefits of chickens that lay many eggs, some farmer may choose to breed their chickens for meat production. For example, Cornish Cross chicken breed are bred to grow quick and to contain large breast.
If a Cornish breed of chicken is crossed with a White Rock breed of chicken, the resulting meat chicken will grow at a rapid rate. However, the rapid rate of growth of these chickens may indicate that they are less active than other breed of chickens. For instance, Freedom Rangers may take longer to reach the same mass as Cornish Cross breed, but the Freedom Rangers are more active and will forage for there own food.
Thus, individuals must decide whether they would like chicken that grow quickly or those that are more active. An alternative to either breeding chickens for eggs or meat is to breed chickens that exhibit both trait. Breeds like Black Star chickens are an example of breed that lay a solid number of egg and contain enough body mass to be used for meat.
These type of crossbred chickens are often hardy, meaning that they can survive in different weather condition. For instance, breeds like Sussex and Buckeye chickens are hardy due to their ability to withstand frosts and cold temperature. Thus, individuals will need to use the comparison table to decide which breed has the better temperament compared to the other, since the temperament of the chicken will impact its integration into the flock of chickens that already exist on the farm.
An advantage of utilizing cross-breeding techniques is that the resulting chicks have the benefit of hybrid vigor, which provide benefits to their immune health. However, the trait of hybrid vigor is only exhibited within the first generation of cross between two breed. For instance, if individuals cross-breed two different breed of chicken, the first generation of chicks will have immune system that can recognize and defend against the diseases that afflict those breed, such as coccidiosis or Marek’s disease.
Additionally, the first generation of chicks will utilize the feed provided to their chicks more efficient to either produce meat or lay egg. However, these chicks should not be bred with each other. If the first generation of crossbred chicks are bred with each other, the trait of hybrid vigor will fade and the production of the crossbred chicks will decrease.
Thus, to allow the benefit of hybrid vigor to remain significant, the crossbred chicks must always be bred with purebred breed of chickens. To begin raising chicken in the farm, individuals must first decide whether their goal is to raise chickens that lay egg, produce meat, or both. Once the individual has made a decision as to their goal, that appropriate breed of chickens can be selected to crossbreed.
By selecting the correct breed of chickens to crossbreed, the offspring will exhibit improved characteristic of the breeds.