Breed Identification Help

We are new to the chicken game. We inherited an adult hen about a year ago.
Today we adopted six more hens all of different breeds.
Can you help me identify the adult hen and confirm the breeds on the other six?
Rhode Island Red or Production Red ? (1 1/2 years?)
Black Australorp (4 1/2 months)
Buff Orpington (4 months)
Golden Sex Link (9 weeks)
Dominique (9 weeks)
Silver Laced Wyandotte (9 weeks)
White Plymouth Rock (9 weeks)

I agree with most of your breed assessments. The top one is most likely a production red, too light to be a rhode island red. The bottom one may be a Plymouth rock or possibly a white leghorn. Does it have a single comb? I can't tell from the pictures. Is it yellow-ish or is that just mud?

And keep an eye on the buff orp and Wyandotte - they both have some redness and more wattle growth than I would think a pullet would have, the orp especially. The orp also seems to have male hackle feathers coming in. I'm almost 100% sure that he's a cockerel.

I contacted the breeder because you are the second person to tell me the Orp looks like he will be a rooster. I expressed my concern and he told me to feel confident that I bought six hens including the Orp. He qualified that by telling me he will replace the bird if that is the case. The Rock is dirty with mud and some of her feathers were a little tattered. She has a single comb and didn't look like the leghorns I saw running around with her.

You should tell the breeder that you know it's a rooster, because I just looked again and I clearly see some long pointy shiny hackle feathers there. That, plus the dual tone color that only roosters get (hens are an even buff) and the large wattles lead me to believe it's definitely a cockerel.

The adult hen in the top photo is a Production Red. One thing that is a bit confusing. In your other post you stated that the other birds were all 9 weeks, but in this post you've labeled the Buff Orpington at 4 months. Given the size and redness of its comb and wattles, if the BO is only 9 weeks, it's definitely a cockerel. Even at 4 months, I still think its a cockerel, but that's considerably older than 9 weeks.

I appreciate all the comments and advice. That's why I am on this forum - to learn. I looked at a lot of birds today so the earlier mention of ages was incorrect on my part. I asked the breeder for clarification when I called about the sex of the Orp. He clarified that the Aus was 4.5mo, Orp 4mo, and the rest are 9wk. I just called the breeder again and he is "1000%" sure they are all hens. He told me I can swap her for another bird or get my money back if I wish, but he is still confident. She should be laying in 4 weeks so I will keep an eye on her to be sure. He said a rooster's comb and wattles would be even taller and the coloration is most likely wet dust (mud) from the dust bath.

bobwilkie said:

I appreciate all the comments and advice. That's why I am on this forum - to learn. I looked at a lot of birds today so the earlier mention of ages was incorrect on my part. I asked the breeder for clarification when I called about the sex of the Orp. He clarified that the Aus was 4.5mo, Orp 4mo, and the rest are 9wk. I just called the breeder again and he is "1000%" sure they are all hens. He told me I can swap her for another bird or get my money back if I wish, but he is still confident. She should be laying in 4 weeks so I will keep an eye on her to be sure. He said a rooster's comb and wattles would be even taller and the coloration is most likely wet dust (mud) from the dust bath.

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Actually, just so you are aware, buff orpingtons are a dual purpose breed and take longer to mature than breeds developed for eggs. It is completely possible that even if it were a hen it wouldn't lay until it was six months old. Also, he cannot be 100% or 1000% sure it's a hen. Even if he bought them vent sexed from a hatchery, they are only 90% accurate and will only guarantee 90% accuracy themselves. I really would take him back. You don't want to feed a bird for two more months for no reason just to see if it's a hen, which it's likely not. The color is also not from dust bathing, that's the color buff orp roosters get. See my rooster here:



You can see the same color in his hackles that yours has in his. You can also see the shininess that yours has in its hackles, like my rooster there does. Hens never get this. Also note that his comb and wattles are not huge because in this picture he is eight months old and they haven't finished growing yet.

I'm not directing any ire towards you, just to be clear, but rather toward the breeder that is telling you these things in error. I raise buff orps myself and they are hard to sex sometimes, but that one I'm nearly 100% is a cockerel. And of course if you want to keep him to be sure he's really a cockerel that's up to you I just wanted to give you my opinion.

Your Dominique, Wyandotte, and Rock are all mixed breeds. Your birds have white skin, when they are supposed to be yellow skinned breeds.

junebuggena said:

Your Dominique, Wyandotte, and Rock are all mixed breeds. Your birds have white skin, when they are supposed to be yellow skinned breeds. 

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I didn't even see that, good catch. I really think these birds are all hatchery birds so the 'breeder' didn't breed them at all, and were sold as sexed pullets, which is why he is so confident they are all pullets. So maybe not mixed but just bad quality because they're from a hatchery (although with hatchery practices whether any hatchery bird is truly purebred is debatable).

agree with Junebuggena