Rathornis
In the Brooder
- May 31, 2025
- 8
- 30
- 41
Prefacing this with the statement that there are no real stakes to this one, I'm just interested in training my eye and maybe picking up a bit more on genetics.
I have five 7-week old BYM bantams hatched of BYM bantams, two of which are clearly male and one I suspect is male, one that is most likely female based on lack of comb growth, and one I can't quite tell. Its comb has started growing, but is somewhere between the two.
Adding to it, I've heard that males tend to have distinctly patchier coloring and more red leakage--something I spotted early on the three who I'm pretty confident are boys--and females have finer and more regular markings, and are less likely to show red--obvious on the small-combed one. My questionable bird is not quite either! Each individual feather is blotchy, making it more evenly-distributed, and there's a touch of red but not much.
All of these were sired by a white (Colombian? with some pattern gene antics) rooster, and the hens are either one of three gold duckwings (one darker than the rest, not sure the proper term) or a single wheaten bird (I suspect the mother of the most-likely-recessive white?)
The nefarious in-betweener:
The very-likely-but-surprises-happen pullet in front, and two of her brothers in back--her comb is lighter than the unknown bird in person, but I had to toy with lighting here to make the boys more visible. The easter egger's offspring, with the dark beard, is presumed male due to how dark his comb is and irregular his patterning is:
The lot of them together for markings comparison, with the questionable bird on the left, three males in the middle, female on the right:
I have five 7-week old BYM bantams hatched of BYM bantams, two of which are clearly male and one I suspect is male, one that is most likely female based on lack of comb growth, and one I can't quite tell. Its comb has started growing, but is somewhere between the two.
Adding to it, I've heard that males tend to have distinctly patchier coloring and more red leakage--something I spotted early on the three who I'm pretty confident are boys--and females have finer and more regular markings, and are less likely to show red--obvious on the small-combed one. My questionable bird is not quite either! Each individual feather is blotchy, making it more evenly-distributed, and there's a touch of red but not much.
All of these were sired by a white (Colombian? with some pattern gene antics) rooster, and the hens are either one of three gold duckwings (one darker than the rest, not sure the proper term) or a single wheaten bird (I suspect the mother of the most-likely-recessive white?)
The nefarious in-betweener:
The very-likely-but-surprises-happen pullet in front, and two of her brothers in back--her comb is lighter than the unknown bird in person, but I had to toy with lighting here to make the boys more visible. The easter egger's offspring, with the dark beard, is presumed male due to how dark his comb is and irregular his patterning is:
The lot of them together for markings comparison, with the questionable bird on the left, three males in the middle, female on the right:
