The Big Fat Is This A Rooster? Thread

[Irish hen lady]

Okeydoke...
Again, all photos here taken on a horrible, windy wet day... Urgh!
This is a side view of the grey speckled hen to the back-left of that photo-of-3...

This is a not-so marvellous shot of the dark one to the right...

And a decent shot of the original one in doubt! With above darkie in the background.

All three are every bit as big, indeed probably a little bigger, than our adult RIR crosses. Could they really be that big by 14 weeks? :-o
The original one in doubt is athletic and "hard" looking, the others are much more roundy and... Well... Hen-shaped :-D
Thanks for your help!

 

[junebuggena]

All three are cockerels. And judging by the saddle feathers, they are between 12 and 16 weeks old.

 

[Irish hen lady]

Oh lordy.
Thanks junebuggena!

 

[junebuggena]

I don't think they are really Welsummer/Barred Rock mixes either. I think both parents were mixes.

 

[XxMingirlxX]

Thanks junebuggena!
However, I know it's not the best photo as it's only with white one I wanted to highlight, as the two behind we have no doubts about, they're all pullet. Indeed, the very dark one to the right is no time away from laying, her comb is reddening more every day (that bottom photo is a few days old!) and she's very "henny"!

The one with white is a rooster, at his tail you can see the development of sickle feathers which only boys get. If you want to see sickle feathers, there is a daigram on the first page!

ETA: Just looked at the photo of the others, they also look like Roos, sorry!

 

[Irish hen lady]

I don't think they are really Welsummer/Barred Rock mixes either. I think both parents were mixes.

The lady we bought them from showed us her broodstock, which consisted of Welsummers and Barred Rocks... she also had some Leghorns. Whilst I could be persuaded that the parents of ours were not necessarily purebred, I'm pretty sure those two breeds are almost exclusively in the mix, though in what combination I don't know! I'm pretty sure there's Leghorn in the white fella.
Thanks to you junebuggena and XxmingirlxX for your opinions... not that I'm delighted with the news, but thanks all the same

 

[junebuggena]

The problem is that the first one has two copies of the barring gene, but also has red leakage, which means both parents were barred, but also had something else mixed in. The mostly white one isn't a pattern/color combo that could have come from a first generation cross of either of the possible parent breeds. Leghorns are dominant white. White genes only affect black coloring. A single copy of the dominant white gene usually results in a solid white bird with some flecks of black. It would not produce a white bird with a black tail, that is the result of silver. there are other genes at play that aren't found in Barred Rocks, Welsummers, or Leghorns. The dark barred bird could be a black sexlink from a barred hen with a Welsummer rooster.

 

[drumstick diva]

looks like all cockerels to me

 

[dan26552]

The problem is that the first one has two copies of the barring gene, but also has red leakage, which means both parents were barred, but also had something else mixed in. The mostly white one isn't a pattern/color combo that could have come from a first generation cross of either of the possible parent breeds. Leghorns are dominant white. White genes only affect black coloring. A single copy of the dominant white gene usually results in a solid white bird with some flecks of black. It would not produce a white bird with a black tail, that is the result of silver. there are other genes at play that aren't found in Barred Rocks, Welsummers, or Leghorns. The dark barred bird could be a black sexlink from a barred hen with a Welsummer rooster.

Excuse me if I'm wrong but the first bird has white earlobes, wouldn't that suggest leghorn somewhere in the mix?

 

[junebuggena]

Excuse me if I'm wrong but the first bird has white earlobes, wouldn't that suggest leghorn somewhere in the mix?

He's got some white feathering above the earlobe, but the earlobe itself is red.
None of the birds in question have white earlobes.
And there are lots of breeds with white earlobes besides Leghorns.