Hybrid Chickens - by "Foxy"

This article forms part of the three part series by our chat forum member 'Foxy'. See also:

• Hybrid or Pure Breed Chickens Introduction
• Pure Breed Chickens

Hybrid Chickens

Basically a hybrid chicken is the result of the rising commercial demand for eggs (and meat) in the early 50's. In order to respond to the huge demand for eggs the birds needed to be able to reliably produce in the region of 300+eggs a year, They also needed to convert food into eggs as economically as possible. This growth in demand also coincided with the development of the "battery cage" system.

Good layers were crossed using special genetic "recipes" to develop the hybrid chicken a "super layer" if you like! Most hybrids are actually derived from well-known utility egg laying breeds such as Rhode Island Red, Marans or Leghorns.

More recently there has been a rise in people wanting to just keep a few birds in the garden for their own eggs. This has stimulated a change in the traditional hybrid "warren" or brown chicken, to commercial breeders looking at developing chickens which are fundamentally hybrids but are more varied in colours so you will see hybrids with various names such as "Bluebelles" or "Speckedlys" or"Fenton Blue", with colours described as champagne, blue,black and silver - the choice is endless!

However, they will all share the same characteristics and prolific egg-laying capabilities. In addition to producing loads of eggs -you now have a choice of different coloured eggs for example a marans based hybrid like a "speckedly hen" will produce brown or brown "speckled" eggs," Fenton Blue" hens will produce a nice blue egg.

Cost wise the prices of hybrid chickens can vary enormously depending on where you buy the birds from, for example, hybrids will be hatched in commercial hatcheries in their thousands, these are then shipped to be "grown on" as "day olds" to POL or point of lay, meaning around the time a hen will start to lay eggs.

Some breeders will buy in as day olds and then sell direct as a POL chicken at around 18 -24 weeks old. However, sometimes they will sell on to perhaps to a garden centre and at this point to ensure profit this will be the most expensive place to buy a chicken as you can imagine! So how much do these hens cost? Anything from around £8.50 to, I have heard, £25.00 and more!

Pros and Cons to Choosing Hybrid Chickens

There is no hard and fast rule, or right or wrong when it comes to hybrids -it is really about colours and eggs and even egg colour!

Pros to Hybrid Chickens

• Reliability, they will do exactly what's on the tin, and lay lots of eggs!
• Generally speaking a predictable and placid nature.
• Easy to look after
• Rarely go broody - I said rarely I know some have!
• Easy to source birds, lots of suppliers
• Usually available all year round
• Vaccinated

Cons to Hybrid Chickens

• Egg laying dramatically drops after the first season -they are not designed to lay for longer
• Can be a bit dull
• Can be prone to egg laying problems
• No conservation value
• Can be aggressive within flock compared to some pure breeds.
• Generally not as "tame" as some pure breeds with their keeper (some exceptions here as well!)

About the Author & Article

This article was written by chicken keeping forum member, Foxy, and originally appeared in the Poultry Information section. Members exchange help and information on keeping poultry as well as just chatting about chickens and other livestock. Foxy's web site can be found here: Beanwood Poultry

Other Articles & Resources

• Pure Breed Chickens
• Introduction to Hybrid and Pure Breed Hens