Some time ago we presented our readers with an article about half male and half female chickens, and for this week`s Pros & Cons article about keeping a particular chicken breed, we decided to make another slight exception with an article about the Pros & Cons About Hybrid chickens.
Same as every other chicken there is there are advantages and disadvantages to keeping Hybrid chickens.
And based on our own experiences and some research we will try to objectify the usage of Hybrid chickens and look at them as any pure breed chicken.
Pros:
1. Highly Capable Of Laying Quality Eggs
It is reasonable that the chickens that were bred in order to produce eggs and meat have the capability to lay a good amount of quality eggs. This is the main reason why individuals and companies are using Hybrid chickens for the purpose of producing eggs.
Many chicken keepers even prefer Hybrid chickens for their personal use if they are using the eggs for alternative medicine purposes or reasons alike.
2. Strong Immunity System
Hybrid chickens are bred with the purpose of being highly useful and in some cases, they are raised in very harsh environments especially if there are many.
This is one of the reasons why they are raised to have thicker skins and stronger immune systems.
This is why many chicken keepers prefer this breed even for their backyard flocks if they live in a place with regular stormy weather.
3. Lacking Years & Years Of Existence (As A Pro)
Some breeds can be aggressive due to their aggressive past and that is why they can be a little bit difficult to raise.
This however is not a problem with the Hybrid Chickens.
They are born somehow tamer than purebred breeds and that can be valued a lot in the chicken keeping community.
Cons:
1. Not A Pure Breed
Well, this has been the subject of many discussions led by chicken keepers.
Some chicken keepers simply enjoy keeping chickens as pets and nothing more.
They enjoy the breeds they keep because of their looks or simply because they are used to seeing the same breed of chickens every morning.
Those chicken keepers will choose any pure breed over a Hybrid chicken any day of the week.
2. Lacking Years & Years Of Existence (As A Con)
-Every older breed has certain instincts developed with generations of experience behind them.
They have evolved into the loving purebred chickens we all love to keep today.
Hybrid chickens however lack those instincts and that can make them prone to predators or other outside threats.
-What they also lack is motherly instincts many hens have adopted from their breeds of origin. This is what many chicken keepers that raise purebred chickens always use as an argument against those who utilize Hybrid chickens for their own purposes.
Do you have experience with Hybrid chickens? Share it with us in the comments below.
Shannon Stansberry has been engaged in the business of raising chickens for more than 12 years. In 2016, she accomplished the Agriculture & Natural Resources program at Mt. San Antonio College. At present, she tends to more than 80 chickens on her 4-hectare farm. Shannon regularly shares her insights and experience on how to raise healthy and contented chickens on the platform Typesofchickens.com
I think your article on Hybrid chickens should have started with an explanation of what a Hybrid is! and you missed some very good points pro & con. So first let’s explain a Hybrid chicken or animal is the resulting offspring of two different purebred animals for example a Rhode Island Red Rooster on a Australorp hen the resulting chicks would be F1 hybrids and two laying breeds the resulting pullets would be very good layers. The pros I think are so numerous too mention starting with Hybrid Vigor! the best of both parents healthier, sturdier, stronger and higher immunity to diseases. You can produce sex links great layers also. The only con is they do not breed true so you are just going backwards on breeding two Hybrids.