Black Giant or Black Australorp....and pullets or cockerels?

[thunderchicken21]

So long story short, back in March we brought home 6 new baby chicks from our local Rural King store. We went in looking for baby chicks (pullets), without much regard for the breed at the time. The 6 we got came from a group that were labeled as "black sex link pullets".

Fast forward several weeks and I noticed that none of them are showing any signs of getting the typical red/gold neck feathering. So that got me wondering...what breed of chicks did I get?

They are now just over 10 weeks old and I have no idea what I have here lol. I'm thinking they are either Black Giants or Black Australorp based on the coloring and photos I've seen online.

Finally, out of the 6, 4-5 of them sure the heck look like they are cockerels...

Thoughts?

Day we got them:

Today (10 weeks 2 days):

 

[BastyPutt]

Well shoot. I had something typed up, but deleted it after looking at the pics again.

Aside from the size, which I can't tell from the pics, here is the only way to really determine the difference between an astralorp and a giant.

- The Australorp has white skin. The shanks and toes are dark slate. The undersides of the feet are pinkish white to grayish. The Jersey Giant’s skin is yellow. The shanks and toes are black to dusky yellowish-green. The undersides of the feet are yellow.

In terms of the sexing, this is where I am hung up. Disregarding the waddles and combs, In pic 1 - they carry themselves as a pullet. But if all I saw was pic #4, I'd say you have a bunch of cockerels there.

One thing is for certain, they aren't a traditional barred rock v RIR sex link. Perhaps another hatchery has found two compatible breeds, but unlikely.

 

[BastyPutt]

I dissected these some more and will say it is my guess that you have 5 cockerels there and one pullet.

Id say there is a chance you may live near this poster

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/jersey-giants.1576427/#post-26781285

 

[Sussex19]

I'm no good at breed, but you have 5 cockerels, and one pullet.
I have circled the pullet in red.

 

[BastyPutt]

I'm no good at breed, but you have 5 cockerels, and one pullet.
I have circled the pullet in red.
View attachment 3507067

Concur

Not sure if you are an "I Love Lucy" fan - but when I see things like that this where there are more cockerels than pullets from a hatchery - I think of the job switching episode where all the chocolates fly passed Lucy and Ethel (in this case, the chocolates being the cockerel chicks). The hatchery employees must have been asleep at the wheel here.

 

[thunderchicken21]

Yeah I'm pretty sure I have some cockerels as well....heard one attempt to crow a couple of times this morning while getting ready. Did not see which one it was.

 

[thunderchicken21]

I dissected these some more and will say it is my guess that you have 5 cockerels there and one pullet.

Id say there is a chance you may live near this poster

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/jersey-giants.1576427/#post-26781285

Now I know better than to believe the little breed (and sex) tags on the bins at RK

 

[BastyPutt]

Now I know better than to believe the little breed (and sex) tags on the bins at RK

I feel so bad for you! This has to be the worst case ever.

 

[thunderchicken21]

I feel so bad for you! This has to be the worst case ever.

Luck of the draw I suppose. I did get my other birds from a local hatchery so I'm at least sure what I have from there with the exception of the bonus chick I got. They are a few weeks behind these black ones so I'll post up a pic of them when I get them moved out to the coop.

 

[BastyPutt]

Luck of the draw I suppose. I did get my other birds from a local hatchery so I'm at least sure what I have from there with the exception of the bonus chick I got. They are a few weeks behind these black ones so I'll post up a pic of them when I get them moved out to the coop.

I will be looking forward to it!

Did you happen to take a look at their feet for breed ID?