Breed and Gender please

Oh boy! Thanks I sure hope that they are pullets! I'm going to try and post pics..





Ok I guess it worked. Here they are, the last pic is of two with different tails. Some chicks are darker than others.
I figured they weren't Red Leghorns.
i appreciate the help. I am going to post in another message some others that are ISA Browns. Will they be the same as far as being the two toned red/white?
Are the males two toned also?
 
These two are supposed to be ISA Browns pullets. They used to be about the same color but one is getting more solid now. Do you think they are pullets?



Thanks so much for the help!
 
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YEA! I'll be looking for those eggs.....the ISA Browns lay brown eggs right? What about the others? Isn't there several kinds of sex links?
 
Yep, those are all red sex link pullets. You'll get flooded in brown eggs come spring!

Sex link is a generic term. It basically means the sex is linked to the color (or another specific trait). Red sex links have a variety of "recipes" that can be used to make them. Hatcheries often don't use specific breeds as the parent stock, just their own strains of gold and silver birds. Regardless of the actual parentage, they're bred to be high production layers so you should get tons of brown eggs.
 
Do you see what I am worried about? Those last two chicks are so different, in stature and wing set they just look like two different sexes. Could be two different breeds maybe? Or is that just how they growing and developing at different rates? Little brown one looks real "girlish"
I believe you but just wanted to confirm that my eyes aren't fooling me.
 
Thanks so much. I really appreciate all the info. I bet those Mutt eggs are pretty darn yummy! I'm impressed that the chick are looking pretty also.
Is it true that they will lay great for first yr and then sort of drop off till they are 2 and then not good at all?
I'll hate that because I'll be so attached to them by then.
 
High production hens don't often lay long into their lives. Breeds that lay less per week will often lay longer into their lives. Sex links do seem to burn out earlier than many other breeds because of such high production, but every hen is different, so you just never know. Keep their protein content up to make sure they don't become deficient. I like 18-20%.
 
oldhen is right, they're hybrids so you don't have the same uniformity you get with a breed. And even within a breed, you have different rates of development.

I can't speak much for their longevity. I age most of my birds out around 18 months. A hen has to have a special place--be a good broody, or part of a specific breeding project--to make the cut for the second winter here. I just don't have enough space for all the projects and hatching I do.
 

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