What is this chick?

[Iknownothing101]

So I have a small flock, 11 chickens, 12 now I guess. 9 Barred Rock hens, 1 Buff Orpington hen, 1 Buff Orpington rooster, and now this little fuzzball named Nugget.
My Buff Orpington hen, Elizabeth, was trying to hatch 3 eggs. She hatched 1 and abandoned the other 2 eggs. Looking at this chick, I don't think she is their mother. But I am confused. I raised all these chickens from when they were a couple days old. The Barred Rocks were black with white markings as chicks, and the Buff Orpingtons were yellow as chicks. How did the mixing of those genes get me a white/grey chick?

Any ideas of the chicks gender? I know their probably too young (4-5 days old), but I know the barred gene is sex linked so maybe?

 

[NatJ]

9 Barred Rock hens, 1 Buff Orpington hen, 1 Buff Orpington rooster, and now this little fuzzball named Nugget....The Barred Rocks were black with white markings as chicks, and the Buff Orpingtons were yellow as chicks. How did the mixing of those genes get me a white/grey chick?

I think it is a cross of Buff Orpington and Barred Rock.
The Barred Rock gives the genes to make a chick black all over.
Some Buff Orpingtons have a gene that turns all black into white.
Result: mostly-white chick.

As it grows up, it will probably be mostly white but have a few black dots here and there, and it may have some gold or red leakage too.

 

[Iknownothing101]

It's been a long time since I posted. I am sorry to say that Nugget didn't make it. They were 6 days old when we went out to the coup to check on them, and they had passed, they were perfectly fine a couple hours ago and we have no idea what happened. There was no clear cause of death. Nugget was missed and the Hen in the picture, Elizabeth mourned for some time.

On a more positive note, Elizabeth has hatched and raised another chick (not her own) that did survive to adulthood. They are a 8 month old rooster named Muffin. I will try to take some pictures of him to show soon.

 

[JedJackson]

Either a stealth rooster visited your flock, or this chick's coloring is the result of a genetic mutation. I agree that the mother probably is not the buff Orpington because the chick has yellow legs, and that must have come from one of the rocks because Orps have white legs. In fact, the gene for white skin/legs is dominant over the gene for yellow skin/legs, so it's unusual this chick should have yellow legs when the Orp rooster is the father.

Another point is that normally the cross of a solid colored rooster over a barred hen would produce sex linked chicks. The males from that cross would have spots on the backs of their heads and would later be barred, while the female chicks would display neither. But since this chick is mostly white, the head spot wouldn't show if it was male. Later on if you see some faint barring in the wing/neack/tail feathers then you will know it is male.

So it is a mystery. Genetics can throw unexpected things sometimes. It will be interesting to see how the chick looks as it matures.

 

[GirlsHuntToo]

I think it is a cross of Buff Orpington and Barred Rock.
The Barred Rock gives the genes to make a chick black all over.
Some Buff Orpingtons have a gene that turns all black into white.
Result: mostly-white chick.

As it grows up, it will probably be mostly white but have a few black dots here and there, and it may have some gold or red leakage too.

I agree.

 

[NatJ]

It's been a long time since I posted. I am sorry to say that Nugget didn't make it. They were 6 days old when we went out to the coup to check on them, and they had passed, they were perfectly fine a couple hours ago and we have no idea what happened. There was no clear cause of death. Nugget was missed and the Hen in the picture, Elizabeth mourned for some time.

On a more positive note, Elizabeth has hatched and raised another chick (not her own) that did survive to adulthood. They are a 8 month old rooster named Muffin. I will try to take some pictures of him to show soon.

Thanks for updating!

Sad to hear about Nugget But glad Muffin did well

 

[Iknownothing101]

It's been a long time since I posted. I am sorry to say that Nugget didn't make it. They were 6 days old when we went out to the coup to check on them, and they had passed, they were perfectly fine a couple hours ago and we have no idea what happened. There was no clear cause of death. Nugget was missed and the Hen in the picture, Elizabeth mourned for some time.

On a more positive note, Elizabeth has hatched and raised another chick (not her own) that did survive to adulthood. They are a 8 month old rooster named Muffin. I will try to take some pictures of him to show soon.

I'm bad with updates but here is a couple pictures of Muffin, in one he is 4 days old, in the other he is 8 months old. Our chickens have an enclosed coup that they sleep in, from dawn to dusk they are free range. Or I think pasture raised is the better term. They all love taking dust baths and stealing the cat/dog food that is outside.

 

[JedJackson]

I think it is a cross of Buff Orpington and Barred Rock.
The Barred Rock gives the genes to make a chick black all over.
Some Buff Orpingtons have a gene that turns all black into white.
Result: mostly-white chick.

As it grows up, it will probably be mostly white but have a few black dots here and there, and it may have some gold or red leakage too.

That makes sense. Sort of like what happened when the Delaware pattern emerged. Do you think this means it is male?

 

[NatJ]

That makes sense. Sort of like what happened when the Delaware pattern emerged. Do you think this means it is male?

I don't know about the gender.

If it starts growing gold feathers around the head and breast, that would mean female (gold/silver sexlink.) I don't think the color of the chick down can tell us anything about the gender, because it is probably just black down turned white by the Dominant White gene.

Genetically, a male should have silver, and should have white barring. But with a lot of "black" that is also turned white, it will not be clear which white is caused by which genes. If it gets black spots, it might be possible to recognize white barring across them, which would mean male.

 

[DLA]

So I have a small flock, 11 chickens, 12 now I guess. 9 Barred Rock hens, 1 Buff Orpington hen, 1 Buff Orpington rooster, and now this little fuzzball named Nugget.
My Buff Orpington hen, Elizabeth, was trying to hatch 3 eggs. She hatched 1 and abandoned the other 2 eggs. Looking at this chick, I don't think she is their mother. But I am confused. I raised all these chickens from when they were a couple days old. The Barred Rocks were black with white markings as chicks, and the Buff Orpingtons were yellow as chicks. How did the mixing of those genes get me a white/grey chick?

Any ideas of the chicks gender? I know their probably too young (4-5 days old), but I know the barred gene is sex linked so maybe?

Please post some new pictures of the chick, curious to see how Nugget is developing.