Mosaic Chickens (summary):
- Country of origin: the USA
- Primary uses: For eggs, meat, and pets
- Lifespan: 4 – 5 years
- Eggs
- Production (annual): 250 eggs
- Size: Medium size
- Color: either tinted or medium cream color eggs
- Weight:
- Cock: 8 – 8.5 lb
- Hen: 6 – 6.5 lb
- Bantam:
- Cock: 1 – 1.2 lb
- Hen: 0.7 – 0.9 lb
- Colors: Black, White, Blue, Yellow
- Useful to Know: Mosaic is not a recognized chicken breed. This breed is actually a personal breeding project and a composite of different breeds
- Photo:
Mosaic chickens are interesting birds. They are cool and beautiful chickens with nice color patterns that can attract any poultry lovers’ attention. They are stunning because of the variety of colors covering their feathers. Also, they have a distinguishing rich blue skin color, unlike other fibro melanistic breeds.
They are docile, friendly, great free rangers, consistent layers of medium cream eggs, and full of personality.
Background and History of the Mosaic Chicken Breed
The Mosaic chicken breeds derive from Imperfect Cemani chickens, the ones with white leakage. They were developed by Gold Feather Farms. After many serious selections, they become what they are now.
Appearance
- The Mosaics come out in a wide range of beautiful color patterns, from frost white to chocolate with flower mosaic tapestry colors. The most noticeable feature, especially at Mosaic roosters, is their vibrant, iridescent turquoise earlobes.
- They are quite similar to Braekel and Campine. These chicken breeds all have a lot of color patterns and the same pointy little faces.
- Unlike most fibro breeds with black skin, Mosaic chickens boast a rich blue skin color. Moreover, their combs and faces are an interesting combination of various color patterns including blue, black, turquoise, and especially deep red. You might be thinking of whether the breed is playing with a color board.
- Mosaics have a wide range of color patterns maybe because they are fibro melanistic. Some have real darker combs, some have a little bit lighter combs, some are a blackish bluish, and some of them are a bit reddish.
- The actual feather color patterns, a neat color pattern, make Mosaics quite unique and different from others.
Behavior
They are full of personality, very friendly, and sweet chickens. Not only adding beautiful colors to your flock, Mosaics also have great predator awareness as well. They are amazing free rangers with a burst of personality. Mosaics are great foragers. They enjoy discovering the leaf layer and other natural chicken digging activities.
Mosaic chickens are social birds and need other chickens for companionship. Only one chicken can die of loneliness. That’s why you should always build a proper flock for happy and healthy backyard chickens.
Broodiness
Mosaic’s roosters are not very aggressive, but they have great predator awareness. They protect their flock from dangers like foxes or dogs. Hens tend to lay eggs more efficiently when there are cock members in their flock.
Hens before their first egg-laying often show restlessness, and begin to look for a nest. They tend to spend more time visiting and investigating a number of potential nest sites. They can poke their heads into the nest boxes you give them and put their bodies there to examine. During the examination, they might typically resume other activities they have been performing like eating, preening, or sleeping.
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Mosaic Chicken Productivity (Egg Laying and Meat Production)
Is Mosaic Chicken Good for Eggs?
Until now, there has been no official standard or document rate of lay for Mosaic’s egg production. However, according to the information of experienced keepers, 10 hens can provide for you at least 7 eggs a day in the conditions of middle winter with no lights on them. That is a pretty good laying capacity in the winter months. Moreover, they lay eggs quite consistently throughout the year. And keepers validate Mosaics to have above-average egg laying abilities. And honestly, there is nothing super fancy like Leghorns or Australorp. Those chickens lay eggs every single day.
Mosaics are excellent medium cream color egg layers. The feed to eggs ratio of this chicken breed is very good.
Is Mosaic Chicken Good for Meat?
If you can raise your own chickens, Mosaic’s meat source is tastier and healthier than factory poultry. Your family can get more flavor, less fat, and more calories.
Mosaic chickens are large in the medium range. The Mosaic roosters can weigh up to 8.5 pounds which is a bit heavier than Leghorns, but definitely lighter than other larger breeds.
Common Issues of the Mosaic Chicken
Mosaics are a pretty new breed which has only been out on the market for five or six years. That’s why they don’t have an ancient history or anything to talk about.
There are sometimes egg-laying issues with your chickens. There are some reasons for these issues in their lifetime. They can be vitamin deficiencies, parasites, infections, and even stress that can make the chickens stop laying eggs.
It is important to look for symptoms when it comes to diagnosing egg-laying issues in your chickens. You can see your chickens have a loss of appetite, lethargy, weakness, and abnormal droppings, or even respiratory issues.
Environment Requirements
For medium-size chickens like Mosaics, they need at least 3 square feet of floor space inside the coop and 7-9 square feet outdoors. Too crowding flocks contribute to disease and feather picking. Instead, the more space, the healthier and happier the chickens are.
Also, the chickens need space to spread their wings and speak sometimes. They are also a kind of poultry loving a dust bath and catching a few rays.
To keep your Mosaics safe from predators like foxes, possums or coyotes, there must be a firm fence around. You can consider a mandatory part of your routine so that you can ensure the total safety for your chickens.
Benefits and Drawbacks of Raising Mosaic Chickens
Benefits
Mosaic chicken keepers often find it very fun to watch the hatching process. It is interesting to see chicken babies come out in a variety of stunning colors. The more they grow up, the more color patterns present on the whole body. And do you agree that Mosaics have lovely turquoise earlobes and skin?
Being a great forager, the chickens can bring a lot of benefits to your backyard. Firstly, they help to clean the yard by clearing garden beds of weeds after harvests and eating fallen fruit from trees before they start rotting and attract bugs. Secondly, they are like natural garbage disposal which can consume the food items that we will normally throw away, including food scraps like salads, vegetables peeling, fruits, nuts, etc.
Challenges or Drawbacks
Mosaic chickens have their most productive egg-laying capacity only in their first two years. After that, egg production will slow down. So, you might have to think of replacing your flock with younger chickens then.
Is the Mosaic Chicken Right for You?
A lot of people like this chicken breed with a full personality of being sweet, shy, grouchy, and playful. Mosaics seem to get the most positive feedback from poultry keepers. They are not only a considerable egg and meat source but also interesting pets.
How to Raise the Mosaic Chicken
If you have an empty backyard and you want to have tastier and fresher eggs, keeping a flock of chickens can be a good idea.
For the Mosaic breed, many chicken keepers get from GoldFeather Farms. Their eggs and sizes are like that of the Ayam Cemani.
To get success in raising Mosaic chickens, you need to make some preparation and simple guidelines as below:
- Prepare a good brooder to keep baby chicks in a warm, draft-free shelter. The brooder should be tightly enclosed with a bottom surface and be covered with bedding. A heating lamp is also necessary.
- The key point is sanitation and you should always keep their environment clean. Baby Mosaics are very vulnerable and they can easily get health problems because of bacteria.
- You should learn about a long-term nutrition plan for your flock. You can seek out other experienced keepers who will give you their own ways to raise Mosaic chickens with typical characteristics. Chicken raising books are also really helpful. You can learn directly from experts in this area who understand your chickens deeply.
- The chickens will lay more eggs when they can access daylight, from 12 to 14 hours. So in the spring and summer months, you should collect eggs twice.
- Besides feed and water, one of the essential simple chores is grit – small rocks. These rocks can help the chickens digest their food more easily.
- It is essential to regularly clean chickens themselves, their coops, and beading material. You can use pine bedding and straw instead of cedar shavings with toxic cedar oils and scents.
Actually, it is pretty easy to take care of Mosaic chickens. They are a low-maintenance animal which requires simple care like being fed, watered, and given a coop to nest in.
Further reading: Beginner’s Guide to Keeping Chickens
FAQs
1/ What is the Mosaic chicken breed?
It is an American breed, a result of a personal project. So, it does not have official recognition for its own breed. The most outstanding feature that people often talk about Mosaics is the beautiful vibrant color patterns. They are in a medium body frame and an average and over egg-laying capacity. Their eggs are medium size, tinted, and cream-colored.
2/ What do Mosaics look like?
At the first sight, people can notice immediately the deeply red comb of Mosaics. Their faces come out with impressively neat color patterns, from blue, black, to turquoise, etc.
3/ What is the good personality of this chicken breed?
In general, Mosaic chickens have a friendly personalities. Like other chicken breeds, they are great foragers, love the discovering and digging activities to find out their foods. Also, Mosaic roosters have a really good awareness of predators. They head the folk and always protect the folk members from other dangerous animals.
4/ I need chicken eggs almost every day, so should I raise Mosaic chickens?
Yes, you should take that into consideration. If you do not expect something too fancy like one egg every day, Mosaic chickens are a good choice for you. They lay eggs consistently without the average annual capacity of 250 eggs a chicken. Even in the cold winter with less light, they can lay eggs 7 days out of 10 days.
Final Thoughts
There are a lot of chicken breeds now and each one has their own personality. Mosaic chicken breeds also have their own story to tell. They seem to be one of the most beautiful chicken breeds with stunning color patterns. They are also consistent medium tinted-colored egg layers, but still very easy to take care of. Understanding the typical features of the chickens will help you take better care of them.
Books
- “Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens, 4th Edition: Breed Selection, Facilities, Feeding, Health Care, Managing Layers & Meat Birds”, Gail Damerow, December 26, 2017
- “Backyard Chickens: A Practical Handbook to Raising Chickens”, Claire Woods, August 31, 2018
- “The Chicken Health Handbook, 2nd Edition: A Complete Guide to Maximizing Flock Health and Dealing with Disease”, Gail Damerow, December 29, 2015
Links to useful resources:
- “Mosaics”, Gold Feather Farm
- “Mosaic Chicken Breed – All You Need to Know”, Barcoop
- “Mosaic chicken hatcheries and breeders”, The Feather Brain
- “Backyard Chickens – Caring and Raising Your Flock“, Poultry Care, February 7, 2019
- “Raising Backyard Chickens for Dummies“, JASON PRICE ON, July 11, 2014
- “How to Raise Happy Chickens“, CAROLINE COLLINS MCKENZIE, June 23, 2021