8 week old- help with breed identification and if one of them is a cockerel

[Malykaly]

I bought these two from the local Tractor supply. They are 8 weeks old and usually by now I am seeing some differences between the poulets and cockerels, but these two have given me mixed signals. Their combs are the same and growing at the same rate. Their feet are about the same. The one with the tufted head is a bit larger overall and just this week I have noticed that he "Sonny" or she "Sunny" is holding its tail feathers more erect and its beak is a bit larger. I'm leaning toward cockerel but it may just be wishful thinking, as I'd like a roo. It also had a large spot on it's head when a chick.

Any thoughts on breed? TSC had them all mixed and unidentified. Thanks for any help

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Take a look at the Hoovers hatchery site since thats where TSC gets chick. Or just the TSC breed directory. The yellow legs help narrow it down, blue chicken with yellow legs and the head poof, a mix with CCL, maybe a Sapphire olive egger? Looks like those have slate legs though. Hopefully you'll get someone familiar with Hoover's mixes. I would guess that you have Pullets but I'd also keep watching the one with more head poof, could be cockerel. Wow I was a lot of help, lol. Sorry!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Take a look at the Hoovers hatchery site since thats where TSC gets chick.

Last I heard TSC gets chicks from Hoovers, Privett, and a third I can't remember. Your TSC may only get them from Hoovers but that doesn't mean they all do.

Edited to add: The other is Towline.

I don't know what breed or mix those are. Anymore hatcheries sell so many different chickens they have developed themselves that are not actual breeds recognized by the APA that I can't keep up.

I agree, even at that age it is hard to tell what sex they are. I can change my mind looking from one photo to the next. One of those seems to have slightly heavier legs (depending in which photo I look at) and a couple of tail feathers tend to have a curve that you typically see in a male but one member had a photo of a hen with curving tail feathers. Some chicks are harder than others to sex. To me those are two of them. I cannot tell for sure.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

that doesn't mean they all do.

But it looks like one of the Hoover's mixes to me. The whole Sapphire, Prairie this and that Hoover's mixes. It's not from Privett.......

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

They look like Sapphire Olive Egger pullets to me! I'm sure there are other hybrids that can look like that though.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

They look like Sapphire Olive Egger pullets to me! I'm sure there are other hybrids that can look like that though.

I agree with this.

 

[rosemarythyme]

They look like Sapphire Olive Egger pullets to me! I'm sure there are other hybrids that can look like that though.

x3, especially since one has a little tuft.

 

[Malykaly]

Take a look at the Hoovers hatchery site since thats where TSC gets chick. Or just the TSC breed directory. The yellow legs help narrow it down, blue chicken with yellow legs and the head poof, a mix with CCL, maybe a Sapphire olive egger? Looks like those have slate legs though. Hopefully you'll get someone familiar with Hoover's mixes. I would guess that you have Pullets but I'd also keep watching the one with more head poof, could be cockerel. Wow I was a lot of help, lol. Sorry!

Thanks for your reply. I reached out to Hoovers a couple times and no response. I've tried to do my research, but I keep coming up against dead ends. Someone at TSC said they were Prairie Bluebell eggers, but the NB chicks looked nothing like any PBEs that I found. We'll just wait and see, I guess.

 

[Malykaly]

Last I heard TSC gets chicks from Hoovers, Privett, and a third I can't remember. Your TSC may only get them from Hoovers but that doesn't mean they all do.

Edited to add: The other is Towline.

I don't know what breed or mix those are. Anymore hatcheries sell so many different chickens they have developed themselves that are not actual breeds recognized by the APA that I can't keep up.

I agree, even at that age it is hard to tell what sex they are. I can change my mind looking from one photo to the next. One of those seems to have slightly heavier legs (depending in which photo I look at) and a couple of tail feathers tend to have a curve that you typically see in a male but one member had a photo of a hen with curving tail feathers. Some chicks are harder than others to sex. To me those are two of them. I cannot tell for sure.

Thanks for the reply. Someone at TS thought they were Bluebell eggers, but these guys now and a when they were younger, look nothing like any photos I find of that mix. I guess we'll just keep waiting.

 

[GirlsHuntToo]

Both pullets!
As for breed they look like my Sapphire Oliver Egger, Stella.