In the modern world, there is a huge number of the most diverse breeds of chickens, lines, crosses, species. All of them appear as a result of crossing two or more different breeds to obtain higher productivity or some other indicators and qualities.
As a rule, for poultry farmers who breed and keep chickens in their household, the most important indicators are the egg production of the chicken and its meat quality. They tend to choose exactly those breeds that lay up to three hundred eggs a year and gain quite a lot of weight in order to get a lot of tasty meat.
There are several types of crossbreeding of chicken breeds: introductory, production, reproductive, absorption, variable.
Introductory crossing is characterized by blood rush. As a result of this, genetic changes occur in the bird, the signs of a separate genus increase or new features appear, but at the same time the main qualities of individuals are preserved, which are improved.
Industrial crossbreeding is aimed specifically at increasing the productivity of poultry, in order to obtain high egg production or meat indicators.
With reproductive crossing, breeders plan to improve not only the performance of the bird, but also its exterior and other quality features. This method is the most common. With its help, most chicken breeds are bred.
At least two breeds of chickens are involved in the process of absorption crossbreeding. One of them plays the role of an improved one, that is, it is used to improve its productivity, exterior indicators, etc., and the other is an improving one, which already has a high egg production or something else that should be better in a new breed.
Variable crossing implies the mating of a third breed of layers and roosters with feathered pets of pure breeds.
And yet, each poultry farmer decides which chickens to choose. Some prefer high-eggers, others use the bird exclusively for decorative purposes and the eggs laid from time to time do not play a big role, while others opt for meat chickens.
