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Which
Chicken ?
We take a look at the different types of hens available for the backyard . This month we look at the LBJ , or Little Brown Jobbie - that hybrid hen found almost everywhere from intensive poultry houses to pampered pullets in the garden .
This series looks at which hens are the best ones for the garden poultry keeper , a little of how to care for them and how to buy them .
Mostly , these days at least , when someone thinks of a hen it is most likely to be one of these , a little brown hen clucking her way around the garden and laying an egg every day . This is the common hybrid hen that is great for first time poultry keepers .
What is a hybrid ?
A hybrid hen is formed when two different breeds are used to create an animal that is a mixture of them both . Hopefully with some of the good characteristics of both parents .
So a hen , such as the Rhode Island Red , with good egg laying characteristics and a Maran , with good quality eggs , and brown shells , might well produce a good egg laying bird .
It was in the 1950 ’ s when hybrid hens were first produced in large numbers to meet the demand for a robust hen which laid well , in sufficient numbers to feel a hungry nation , and could also , at a pinch , be used for meat .
Hybrid hens were so successful they soon became the mainstay of the caged hen industry .
On the whole , hybrid hens are sterile , and since you don ’ t need a cockerel to initiate egg laying , it us unusual to find hybrid males .
Through the 1960 ’ s , the Warren became the most popular hybrid hen , but with the explosion of poultry keeping in small flocks in homes everywhere , a number of traits have been brought into newer hybrids .
Broodiness has long been something poultry keepers have wanted to avoid , and bullying , which can be somewhat distressing in small flocks has been partially reduced by breeding with more docile hens .