Anyone know what my girls are?

donrae said:

Your barred birds are Rocks. In some areas of the country any barred bird is called a Dominique or Dominekker, but the true breed has a rose comb and a lighter build than your ladies.

Your darker red birds are hatchery Rhode Island Reds, or production Reds. Basically the same thing.

The lighter beige hens are probably hatchery quality New Hampshires, but it's hard to tell from the pics.

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Agreed.

Just wanted to toss this out there. Does anyone think the hatcheries will ever pick up on the fact that poultry buyers are a bit more educated about breeds these days? I hope, that someday in the future, hatcheries will see to it that what they offer for sale is actually that breed. I.e. So, if I order a RIR, I get a RIR, not a production red, and so on.

I was given my girls this past summer and had no clue what they might be other that that they were around 5 months old at the time. I don't intend to get rid of them no matter what they are. They have been laying well and that is all that really matter, I am just curious.

Weehopper said:

Just wanted to toss this out there. Does anyone think the hatcheries will ever pick up on the fact that poultry buyers are a bit more educated about breeds these days? I hope, that someday in the future, hatcheries will see to it that what they offer for sale is actually that breed. I.e. So, if I order a RIR, I get a RIR, not a production red, and so on.

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I think it's unlikely. Even at BYC, we have loads of members who are still uneducated (despite all the corrective posts) and still don't know the difference between heritage RIRs and Production Reds or even between true Ameraucanas and Easter Eggers. Sadly, I suspect that ignorance will always abound to the point that hatcheries can continue to mislead the majority of their buyers.

Daethen said:

I was given my girls this past summer and had no clue what they might be other that that they were around 5 months old at the time. I don't intend to get rid of them no matter what they are. They have been laying well and that is all that really matter, I am just curious.

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I think you have a very nice mix of breeds for a backyard flock . I've kept birds for 20 years with basically the same mindset as you---if they lay well and are healthy, as well as pretty to look at, I'm thrilled.

wish someone would give me a starter flock this nice!

The lighter red ones look like red sex link or red comets. The darker reds are probably rhode island reds which are almost production reds (could be either). The difference between the two is that production reds are RIR mixed with another breed which I'm not positive about.

Michael OShay said:

I think it's unlikely. Even at BYC, we have loads of members who are still uneducated (despite all the corrective posts) and still don't know the difference between heritage RIRs and Production Reds or even between true Ameraucanas and Easter Eggers. Sadly, I suspect that ignorance will always abound to the point that hatcheries can continue to mislead the majority of their buyers.

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Agreed. Hatcheries will continue breeding egg laying mutts and sell them to people as breeds, and it'll still be up to us diehard fanciers to do our best to keep the true heritage lines going and informing the casual keepers whenever possible.

As for EE vs. True Ameraucana... if I had a penny for every time I've had to explain the difference between an EE and an Ameraucana to the customers where I work... well I'd have a nice fortune stored away!

QueenMisha said:

As for EE vs. True Ameraucana... if I had a penny for every time I've had to explain the difference between an EE and an Ameraucana to the customers where I work... well I'd have a nice fortune stored away!

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LOL! Same here. )

Nice laying hens.