4 SLW chicks- 1 looks different.... Roo? Or different breed?

[carmelvalleyfam]

Chicks are almost 2 **weeks old... I know it's too young to be sure but any guesses or words of wisdom are appreciated... We already discovered 2 Roos in our cuckoo Maran batch

Above is three of them together. And as you can see the 2 on the right (which is what the other not pictured looks like) have the mask type of markings on their faces with blacker heads.... The 1 on the left has a light colored face with browner head, but similar body coloring.... Is slightly larger and fisty... So I automatically think roo

.... But has no color in comb yet which is giving me hope
So being new to this breed, I'm wondering if this chick is normal coloring and I'm just being naive or if it's a sign of a roo or if it could be not a true SLW
The chick in question:

What the other 3 look like:

Last comparison:

Any thoughts?? Thanks in advance!!

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Leg size and stance will tell you more at this age than anything else. With Wyandotte you can not rely on redish color in comb for identification. That's a rose comb breed that can have a few in batch keeping you guessing for many weeks to come.

 

[carmelvalleyfam]

Thanks for posting!!! Their leg sizes are the same but this chick in particular stands much more upright with chest out compared to the other three that lean somewhat forward and is already plunking the other chicks so "big personality".....
any experience with the personality of a SLW roo?

So far we have 15 hens in our established flock with no roo currently(did in the past).
We have a batch of cuckoo Marans at 6 weeks and 2 of them are (very prominent) cockerels with very bright red comba already at such a young age.... one is the biggest of the flock and very curious and jumps on my hand anytime I get close to it and the other is the tiniest of the flock and definitely has attitude for a little guy....
We'd consider keeping a roo depending on personality and looks and how it treated our girls... So maybe it won't be so bad if imy SLE turns out to be a he....
But which to keep out of the 3 suspecting Roos? Maran or SLW as the flock rooster

Any thoughts?
Thanks again!!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I agree too early to tell if roo or pullet at this point. Usually, the roo will get a nice red, fleshy comb earlier...but I agree Wyandottes can leave you guessing for some.

As to which to keep as a roo (assuming you have an SLW roo as well as the Cuckoo Marans roos), keep the best nature rooster. Never keep a bird that is snotty to you as a chick as they grow up snotty (and make nice chicken and dumplings). Also always keep the rooster that is best for type...no flaws (cross beak, crooked tail, poor build, unthrifty as a chick).

If all that is equal, as to Marans or Wyandotte...depends upon what you want to do. In my experience, Marans and Wyandottes are pretty similar in temperament and type.

Neither are super docile, but neither overly aggressive. I would call both breeds assertive birds but generally calm and not overly noisy. Important to consider when breeding forward or keeping a rooster.

Both breeds have been similar layers for me...decent to good, but not prolific. Both are heavier birds so provide a decent carcass (if that matters to you). So as to general types, they are pretty equal.

Assuming then all equal as to health and temperament and general type ....you might further consider...

If you keep and breed the Marans, you may improve egg color for the Marans, selecting for the darker layers over time, and may even darken the whole flock over time with some darker wash...usually if one parent is darker brown and the other lighter, the resulting egg shell color is mid-way. So if you've got darker layers in the Marans, a darker roo will eventually darken all the eggs (theoretically).

If you have blue egg layers on the farm, a darker layer roo will create olive eggers (and from my research, the dark brown roo over the blue gene hen produces the darker olive vs. blue gene roo over dark brown layer hen).

However, cuckoo on the rooster side will bar everything, so all chicks will come out cuckoo, both sexes, no matter what you put him over. In time you will have cuckoo/barred birds for the whole flock (assuming you keep breeding back).

Now if you keep the SLW roo, placing him over your Cuckoo Marans girls (and any other barred hen) will give you sexlinks...boys will be barred (white head dot) and girls will be black...a really nice feature.

As stated earlier, both Wyandottes and Marans are considered dual purpose, so you should get decent egg layers and a decent carcass weight, if you want to go that direction. Having sex linking adds another advantage of the ability to step up protein for the boys to finish them out for the pot faster (though of course not as fast as a true meat bird).

Another advantage will be that the SLW is rose comb, which is dominant, and your subsequent chicks will carry the rose comb forward (mostly...there is some single comb throw backs in Wyandottes so it depends upon your SLW boy's genetics, assuming this turns out to be a boy, if he has only a single rose comb gene). If cold winters are an issue, having the rose comb vs. the larger single Marans comb could be advantageous.

So it really depends on what you want.

LofMc

 

[carmelvalleyfam]

Thank you SOOO much!!! That was such an incrdible answer and I so appreciate the detail you went into! You answered all the questions I had!!!! Yes that little roo has given me a bad vibe... Not nice at all and is extremely light gray already, while my other my curious friendly one is huge and much much darker colored than him (which for me... Sounds like a good thing as I'd love to try for darker eggs or olive eggers... I've got lost of EE hens that lay light turquoise eggs... I also have welsummers... Hmmm)

Anyways... Thank you SO MUCH!!! That was so kind of you to take the time to give me all that info, I so appreciate it!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

You are welcome.

Good luck with your breeding plans.

Do note that how dark depends on the genetics in the roo...not all Cuckoo Marans lay particularly dark. If you got them at the same place, you should be able to determine the color tone of the roo's genetics by the girls when they start laying (but of course no guarantee).

Also, putting him over the EE's will give you 50% chance of green to darker green and 50% of brown since the EE's will only have 1 blue gene to pass forward.

I decided to go darker genetic roo as that gave me, I felt, more options, over my girls rather than a blue gene roo coloring everything shades of blue and green.

I like the true Easter Egg basket. (See my last year's offering below).

Enjoy your flock!
LofMc

 

[drumstick diva]

good luck with your breeding plans