8.5 week Silkie x Ameraucana or Legbar chicks - please help me guess gender and parentage

[Solanacae]

I put some hatching eggs under my broody hens this September - some of which were supposed to be blue egg layers - either full Ameraucana or Ameraucana x Legbar. Upon hatching, two chicks from the blue eggs hatch out with dark skin, feathered legs, and 5 toes. I contacted the breeder, she’s as surprised as I am. Then she finds out from her husband that their Silkie rooster got into the breeding pen one day but didn’t think anything of it because the Ameraucana rooster seemed to be keeping the Silkie away from his hens. Well, apparently the Silkie managed to sneak on a couple . . .

Anyway, I’d love some input on which crosses you think I have (Silkie x Ameraucana or Silkie x Legbar). If you want to guess on gender or give me pointers on what to look for, that would be excellent as well. They have feathered in at the same rate, for what it’s worth. I’m pretty good at guessing gender but the darker skin color is not helping me, and their behavior is not giving me any clues either.
Chick 1: small crest, not much of a beard
(ignore the poop, I’ve been needing to clean the coop but life)

 

[esturtz27]

The cockerel has developed more red in his shoulders, as expected, and there’s a lot of gold in his hackles. I’m starting to see a little purple in his comb too.

The pullet, who I named Wren, has gotten some really gorgeous coloring. Her chest is a light brown with a salmon tint that doesn’t show in the pictures. Her head, crest and beard are very dark brown, not quite black. The patterning on her back, wing, and tail feathers shows up ok but they’re more brown in real life. The feathering on her legs is sparse, and you can see the blue earlobe peeking through in the first picture. She’s 14 weeks now.

Ah I see...so crowing soon. Your hen is gorgeous! Wonderful cream legbar colors too. The little mohawk legbars have always make me think they need a leather jacket with spikes like little punk rockers .

 

[Solanacae]

I'm not sure of the parentage but both appear to be pullets!

Thanks for responding! I’ve been leaning pullet for both, but I keep second guessing myself because Silkies have such a reputation for being hard to sex.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

I’m going with the Legbar as the mom to both of them. Only thing that makes sense to me with the coloring they have. They are super cute, both do indeed appear to be female and you will likely get green eggs from them.
The red coming in may though be a male indicator.

 

[Solanacae]

Thank you! I’ll keep watching to see if more red shows up. Of course it’s the one my daughter has claimed as her own - since it’s the chick her chicken hatched. The Ameraucana hen in the picture just above the rooster has coloring similar to a Legbar, I was thinking either that one or the Legbar to be the most likely source for the chick that hatched out with chipmunk stripes.

 

[Solanacae]

Looking more like a boy to me with those red shoulders. What do you think? Pictures taken yesterday, chick will be 10 weeks tomorrow.

 

[Solanacae]

You're certainly right. Comb size is quite deceiving but he is getting cockerel-specific shoulder feathers and even some bright saddle feathers emerging

Considering that it’s a mix of breeds, and only have of which I know for certain, I wasn’t even sure what sort of comb to expect. I teased the crest apart to see what looks to be a modified pea comb. It was bigger than small bumps, which at this age for me also solidifies the cockerel conclusion - I just couldn’t see it because of the crest feathers. It’s a shame I can’t keep him, I bet he’ll be pretty as an adult.

 

[Solanacae]

Ah I see...so crowing soon. Your hen is gorgeous! Wonderful cream legbar colors too. The little mohawk legbars have always make me think they need a leather jacket with spikes like little punk rockers .

I asked on a genetics thread which hen they thought was the mother and they pointed out that this gal is partridge based but Legbars are a duck wing color pattern. That and the full beard indicate that the Ameraucana/EE is the mother. But I do love the crests on the legbars!

 

[Solanacae]

Chick 2: bigger crest, noticeable beard, skin around beak was lighter at hatch, but had dark legs, face has become darker over time.

 

[Solanacae]

Pic of dad and possible mothers. I recognize that these birds may not conform to the SOP and I don’t need comments on whether these are “pure” Ameraucana or Legbars, I was simply wanting something that would lay blue eggs, so please skip on those comments and focus on the chicks.