hyline or isa brown?

LOOLOO · **Posted:** Sun Jun 13, 2010 9:14 am

I have read about Barters, I would like to visit them one day

LooLoo

MariaCreeksPoultry · **Posted:** Sun Jun 13, 2010 12:35 pm

Why not Barter Australorps? They have a good line of utility Australorps. They lay like crazy. We have a few of them.

wades1 · **Joined:** Mon May 31, 2010 8:56 pm **Posts:** 15

just thought i would ask. you are all talking about cross breeding these chooks with other chook. you say that the purebreds lay and live for longer but then this person was asking what chooks would be good and the last 2 posts were about chook that have been crossbred. so my question is what is the difference between these crossbred ones in the last 2 posts compared to isa browns or hyline. it would be interesting to find out. also whats the going price for a pullet australorp i just wanna compare prices on the chooks.

MariaCreeksPoultry · **Posted:** Sun Jun 13, 2010 5:05 pm

Barter Australorps are purebreds.

Barter Brown, Black and White layers are crossbreds but a I believe a direct cross. Hyline and Isa's are not direct cross (ie RIR over leghorn). I think a lot of crossing and recrossing takes place to get such a small chook to lay such a big egg and to lay at such a crazy rate (albiet for a relatively short period of time).

But hey, why buy any crossbred when you have a purebred and contribute to keeping a breed alive.

wades1 · **Joined:** Mon May 31, 2010 8:56 pm **Posts:** 15

hi MariaCreeksPoultry my point exactly if your not wanting to keep purebreds and you just want eggs you might aswell get hyline or isa browns. you dont happen to know the price difference do you???. even know isa browns are cheap for me since im buying bulk.
thanks

MariaCreeksPoultry · **Posted:** Mon Jun 14, 2010 7:52 am

In far noth qld, Isa's sell for about $18 each, we sell Australorps for $25 and can't keep up with demand (we don't have that many chooks).

Backyarder's usually get attached to their chooks and don't generally want to cull every few years so Isa's or hyline's generally aren't the best option. As a large egg producer, a chook maybe just a chook to you but to a backyarder who may only have 3 or 4, it's probably a children's pet. Purebreds have a longer laying lifespan.

Madison · **Joined:** Sun Jun 13, 2010 9:05 pm **Posts:** 1

I payed $25 for hylines so $25 for australorps is a bargain for sure

youridreezen · **Posted:** Tue Jun 15, 2010 9:50 am

MariaCreeksPoultry wrote:

I saw a landline once about egg producers and they had this free range egg producer on the darling downs. All his chooks looked like australoprs. Hard to tell from tv I know but that is what is they looked like. It gave me a ray of hope.

they would of been a australorp X RIR hybrid. many of the smaller hatcheries make these hybrids.

youridreezen · **Posted:** Tue Jun 15, 2010 10:06 am

Quote:

Wades- Just one question. Why can't commercial farms use purebreds? Not being silly here......I know all the usual reasons. Why can't someone go against the grain.

hybrids usually lay bigger eggs, lay more AND dont eat as much.

Quote:

In far noth qld, Isa's sell for about $18 each, we sell Australorps for $25 and can't keep up with demand (we don't have that many chooks).

the only place i know that sells them for $18 is the battery cage egg farm. they have 12000 layers and buy in lots of a few 1000 at a time.

Quote:

Why not Barter Australorps? They have a good line of utility Australorps. They lay like crazy. We have a few of them.

yes but they still lay eggs that are a bit smaller and eat more, if your a large commercial producer it just isnt worth it.

Quote:

What about Barter Brown – Rhode Island and White Leghorn cross & Barter Black – Australorp and Rhode Island crossbred used commercially

this is a good example, the white leg horn is a small bird that does not eat much and lays well, tho i have heard they have smaller eggs then a RIR. by using a RIR male you get the large eggs (which comes from the male) you get the smaller size of the leg horn and they eat less then a RIR.

MariaCreeksPoultry · **Posted:** Tue Jun 15, 2010 4:36 pm

Maybe you are shopping at the wrong place Youri. Banyan Stockfeeds in Tully sells them $18 or she did last time I asked. It wasn't that long ago. I think a lot depends on the mark up put on them. Small sellers like stock feed places often don't aim for a profit selling hens.......they make a profit by selling food to the buyers.

Not everyone wants huge eggs. The 50 to 60 gram eggs laid by my Australorps is fine by me. I notice from the ISa's I had, the eggs got huge quite quickly. My australorp eggs seem to staying a consistent size as the hen's age age. Much gentler on their poor little butts I am sure. We also haven;t had reproduction issues cause by overly large eggs with Australorps.

Isa's are smaller chooks than Australorps so they naturally eat less. I think appetite seems to be breed related as well. We had some light sussex for a while, they nearly ate us out of house and home. Mind you they were huge girls.

anyway each to their own. I will always argue in defense of purebreds. Some people may be sick of listening to by now. Losing the biodiversity that we used to have in livestock is dangerous but I won't jump on my soap box in this thread.

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