Alchemist Farm chicks Breed/Sex?

[MFRcoop]

I bought some beautiful chicks from Alchemist Farm and I couldn't be happier! They are about 6 weeks old now. I got Cocoa Egger x 2, Heritage Welsummer Chick Alchemist Line x 1, Sage Egger Female Chick x 1, and Moss Egger x 1. The only one I'm sure about breed is the white Moss Egger. But which is which? Boy or girl? Any thoughts welcome?
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3. Lt to rtRooster/Breed maybe Cocoa Egger?,Moss Egger (white),.....?
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5. ?......
6. Moss Egger (white)
7. ?...., Moss Egger (white)

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Alchemist farms breeds their own hybrids so might be tricky for anyone who doesn’t have them to identify. Sorry I can’t really help you. They have some gorgeous chickens though and yours are beautiful! You’re going to have some gorgeous eggs later. I would actually contact them directly and ask them, I have heard they’re very helpful and have good customer service.

 

[MFRcoop]

Alchemist farms breeds their own hybrids so might be tricky for anyone who doesn’t have them to identify. Sorry I can’t really help you. They have some gorgeous chickens though and yours are beautiful! You’re going to have some gorgeous eggs later. I would actually contact them directly and ask them, I have heard they’re very helpful and have good customer service.

Yes Franchesca AKA head chicken wrangler is great! I would defiantly buy from them again. But with all the fires here in CA and near there place I thought it best not to ask. As I'm sure they have enough on there plate. I believe the black two are Cocoa Eggers, the white chick is a Moss Egger, but it's the other two I can't tell apart! I'll eventually figure it out based on egg color, but was hoping someone might know before then. lol Thanks for the reply.

 

[Eri_Oak]

I bought some beautiful chicks from Alchemist Farm and I couldn't be happier! They are about 6 weeks old now. I got Cocoa Egger x 2, Heritage Welsummer Chick Alchemist Line x 1, Sage Egger Female Chick x 1, and Moss Egger x 1. The only one I'm sure about breed is the white Moss Egger. But which is which? Boy or girl? Any thoughts welcome?

I also have baby chicks from Franchesca! Three weeks old today. I did ask her about helping me identify them, but she said that they look a lot alike until they are fully feathered.

That said, I have been doing a lot of research on the breeds that she uses for the crosses and been figuring out who is who in my own flock. I think I can help you narrow yours down based on what I've found =)

The black ones are your cocoa eggers
Photo #1 foreground is your Welsummer
The one with the crest is the sage egger because of the legbar influence

Hope that helps!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Yes Franchesca AKA head chicken wrangler is great! I would defiantly buy from them again. But with all the fires here in CA and near there place I thought it best not to ask. As I'm sure they have enough on there plate. I believe the black two are Cocoa Eggers, the white chick is a Moss Egger, but it's the other two I can't tell apart! I'll eventually figure it out based on egg color, but was hoping someone might know before then. lol Thanks for the reply.

There are surely others who are able to help and you will probably get some feedback from other forum members.
Your Coco Eggars I believe are Marans or Marans mixes and the one that you think is a boy definitely looks like one, that’s a lot of comb for a six week old. All the others are looking like pullets so far, as far as I can tell from the photos.

 

[Eri_Oak]

I also have baby chicks from Franchesca! Three weeks old today. I did ask her about helping me identify them, but she said that they look a lot alike until they are fully feathered.

That said, I have been doing a lot of research on the breeds that she uses for the crosses and been figuring out who is who in my own flock. I think I can help you narrow yours down based on what I've found =)

The black ones are your cocoa eggers
Photo #1 foreground is your Welsummer
The one with the crest is the sage egger because of the legbar influence

Hope that helps!

Also, take a look at this thread from earlier today about sexing Welsummer chicks. Your bird's coloring looks lighter in the first photo, but darker in the subsequent ones. I've also read that the ladies in this breed have much more distinct eyeliner than the boys. Hopefully this might help: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/welsumer-pullet-or-roo.1419184/#post-23318062

 

[MFRcoop]

I also have baby chicks from Franchesca! Three weeks old today. I did ask her about helping me identify them, but she said that they look a lot alike until they are fully feathered.

That said, I have been doing a lot of research on the breeds that she uses for the crosses and been figuring out who is who in my own flock. I think I can help you narrow yours down based on what I've found =)

The black ones are your cocoa eggers
Photo #1 foreground is your Welsummer
The one with the crest is the sage egger because of the legbar influence

Hope that helps!

Thank you so much for the help!

 

[Newyorkrita]

Some of the Breeds/Crosses they only allow to order one chick. And then they sell straight run so that doesn't give me much confidence that one will get a hen to add to the flock. But the egg colors on the crosses are awesome!!

 

[MyCuteChooks]

I know this is an old thread but I’m still upset about the ethical of the farm. I did not have a good experience with Alchemist. I ordered ten chicks and Francesca gave me one free chick which I already suspected it would be a boy. So, anyway, I ended up with seven boys out of the eleven chicks I got from her. Four of which are: 2 cream Legbars and 2 OE back crosses.

One of the chicks I ordered was a Welsummer and if you know a thing or two about Welsummer, they are kinda auto-sexing and of course I got a boy instead. I also ordered four Black copper Marans and only two were (boys) and the other two are OE xOE instead because the egg colors I got from the two confirmed my suspicion. I would think twice about buying from a no-kill farm because those roosters at the end had to end up in someone’s home. Unless you love having a high rooster ratio in your coop.

 

[Eri_Oak]

I know this is an old thread but I’m still upset about the ethical of the farm. I did not have a good experience with Alchemist. I ordered ten chicks and Francesca gave me one free chick which I already suspected it would be a boy. So, anyway, I ended up with seven boys out of the eleven chicks I got from her. Four of which are: 2 cream Legbars and 2 OE back crosses.

One of the chicks I ordered was a Welsummer and if you know a thing or two about Welsummer, they are kinda auto-sexing and of course I got a boy instead. I also ordered four Black copper Marans and only two were (boys) and the other two are OE xOE instead because the egg colors I got from the two confirmed my suspicion. I would think twice about buying from a no-kill farm because those roosters at the end had to end up in someone’s home. Unless you love having a high rooster ratio in your coop.

Curious whether you purchased straight run chicks, or guaranteed female chicks? I'm pretty sure both the Welsummer and BCM chicks she sells are all straight run. It's unfortunate that your ratio in the end wasn't 50/50, but that's the nature of nature. It's an average, not a guarantee.

Franchesca donates all of her unsold male chicks to local families in need.

If you ordered BCM chicks from her, and that is not what you received, then you should reach out to her to make it right. I'm sure she would refund the difference in cost, or provide you with new chicks.

For reference, my experience with Alchemist was decent. I ordered three guaranteed female chicks (two Azure Eggers, one Sage Egger), and two straight run chicks (Welsummer and Cocoa Egger). All five ended up being girls. However, one of the chicks is not what I ordered. I received an additional Azure Egger instead of the Welsummer, which was disappointing, but overall I felt good about supporting what she's doing there and decided to let it go since the value of the female Azure bird was higher than the Welsummer straight run.

I have found Franchesca very pleasant to work with, and i am certain she would want to make the BCM situation right for you. IMO, she shouldn't be held responsible for nature not giving you a 50/50 male to female ratio on straight run birds. That's just life.