Hybrid Chick

Table of Contents

A hybrid chicken is a cross between two pure breeds of chicken, like Rhode Island Red and Maran, making a physically blended generation…

e.g. Speckledy (Rhode Island X Maran).

Hybrid chickens are usually bred for higher egg-laying output than pure breeds within the 1st year of laying.

Typically, you could expect to receive anywhere between 250-300 eggs per year from a hybrid chicken, in year one.

This aside,

Hybrids don’t have good consecutive year egg-laying consistency.

Their performance tends to dip as much as 20% in year two.

But occasionally hybrids can nick or exceed pure breed parent output.

This process otherwise known as nicking or ‘hybrid vigor’.

Example hybrid chicken #

Some example hybrids…

Golden Rock, is a cross between Rhode Island Red and Barred Plymouth Rock.

An excellent free ranger, it can be favourably reared in the open outdoors or harsh wether conditions.

Therefore, it makes for a great garden or allotment layer hen.

The Columbine is a hybrid that is renowned for producing blue-green eggs 85% of the time.

They’re sold for about £20 per bird in the UK.