Ancona / Exchequer Leghorn - 14 weeks

[ditzyanne]

At 14 weeks what's your guess about breed and gender?

Ordered a large mix of pullets from MPC/Meyer, including 1 Ancona, 3 exchequer leghorns, and 3 BBS Andalusian. Lost one of them as a baby, rehomed 4 of the others.

I thought that one of my two remaining was an Ancona, and one a BBS Andalusian. While one of the remaining chicks is most likely a black Andalusian pullet, I'm not sure about this one. She's far and away the flightiest of her group (reminds me of the white leghorns I raised earlier this year) and also the smallest of her age-mates.

If a legorn, Id be willing to believe she's a pullet, because the combs of my last leghorn cockerels were twice this size at 14 weeks. Otoh, there's a lot more red there than I like to see in a pullet.

Picture of the assumed 'black Andalusian' below, as of last week. She's also a runner who hates the camera.

 

[SnackMeat]

We have Anconas from Sandhill that are 9 or so weeks and look like that but with black bodies and the face and chest looking similar. Comparing exchequer pullet to Ancona pullet pictures online (to keep pictures on the younger side) my guess is you have an exchequer. Even the slightly older Anconas should have more black.


What's throwing me off is that exchequer legs online look a lot more yellow. my Anconas have that sort of mottled gray dingy yellow look.

 

[WingItRanch]

I don't think Ancona. They're typically mostly black with some white when they're young.

Here's what my Ancona pullet looked like around that same age.

I think maybe yours is a cockerel. The stance is very masculine and I believe I'm seeing some pointy saddle feathers.

 

[rural mouse]

Stance is pullet. Cockerel chest would be held higher. At 14 weeks, the hackle/saddle feathers should visible. And on either Ancona or Leghorn, a cockerel wattles at that age should be much larger. Due to redness, I'm guessing she's going to lay closer to 16 weeks than the 20 week mark.

@notabitail does she look like Josephine?

 

[Not-so Slick Chicken]

I don't think Ancona. They're typically mostly black with some white when they're young.

Here's what my Ancona pullet looked like around that same age.
View attachment 4166212

I think maybe yours is a cockerel. The stance is very masculine and I believe I'm seeing some pointy saddle feathers.

Mottling will vary.

I have two Mottled Ancona pullets (currently 7 months old)

First and second pic (pecking at ground & standing on log) - 15.5 weeks

Third pic (lying on ground) - 19 weeks, had her first egg about a week later (they both had eggs at the same time, but the other one had hers first)

Fourth pic - both at 6 months (impatiently waiting for the nest boxes. You can't see in the pic, but I have 6 nest boxes and only 3 are in use, and these girls usually use the ones at the end that were empty. Oh and the nest box you can see, that's a broody. She ain't moving. Well, it's been a month. She moved after the eggs hatched.)

 

[Not-so Slick Chicken]

View attachment 4165545
View attachment 4165555
At 14 weeks what's your guess about breed and gender?

I think the two breeds just look too similar to confidently say which is which.

I feel like yours is more leggy than my ancona pullets, but I could be wrong (might just be natural variation between birds, as well)
Other than that... looks near identical to my pullets.
Yours did comb up sooner than mine, by a few weeks. But it could just be an early layer. (Or it could be a cockerel.)

You'll likely know in a couple weeks which it is.

 

[notabitail]

Stance is pullet. Cockerel chest would be held higher. At 14 weeks, the hackle/saddle feathers should visible. And on either Ancona or Leghorn, a cockerel wattles at that age should be much larger. Due to redness, I'm guessing she's going to lay closer to 16 weeks than the 20 week mark.

@notabitail does she look like Josephine?

It has a semblance to a younger Josephine, yes. Once it's older I'll be able to compare better. Most of the photos of Josey that I have at that age are awful.

The orange long legs were something Josephine had at that age.

 

[ditzyanne]

Mottling will vary.

I have two Mottled Ancona pullets (currently 7 months old)

First and second pic (pecking at ground & standing on log) - 15.5 weeks

Third pic (lying on ground) - 19 weeks, had her first egg about a week later (they both had eggs at the same time, but the other one had hers first)

Fourth pic - both at 6 months (impatiently waiting for the nest boxes. You can't see in the pic, but I have 6 nest boxes and only 3 are in use, and these girls usually use the ones at the end that were empty. Oh and the nest box you can see, that's a broody. She ain't moving. Well, it's been a month. She moved after the eggs hatched.)

Thank you! Comparing these pictures to my young lady in real life, I'm pretty sure I have an exchequer.

 

[Not-so Slick Chicken]

Thank you! Comparing these pictures to my young lady in real life, I'm pretty sure I have an exchequer.

What makes you say so?
I'd like to learn more
I almost got an Exchequer Leghorn with my Anconas, (don't recall why. Maybe they weren't available when I ordered.) I feel like I wouldn't have been able to tell them apart if I got both, personally.
(But maybe if I had got both, I could have noted differences?)

Both of them have the mottled gene, which is why their spots look the same. and they're very similar (Mediterranean, size, eggs)

 

[ditzyanne]

What makes you say so?
I'd like to learn more
I almost got an Exchequer Leghorn with my Anconas, (don't recall why. Maybe they weren't available when I ordered.) I feel like I wouldn't have been able to tell them apart if I got both, personally.
(But maybe if I had got both, I could have noted differences?)

Both of them have the mottled gene, which is why their spots look the same. and they're very similar (Mediterranean, size, eggs)

When I look at the bird in person, not just in a picture, she seems to be more white with black than black with white. I'm *assuming* that coloration is the primary way large hatcheries differentiate them; that they throw the birds who are more dark in with the Ancona breeders and the ones who are lighter in with the Exchequer breeders. There is such wild variation with other genetics when it comes to hatchery birds that I'm less comfortable relying on those things.

For example, how many hatchery 'dominiques' have single combs because there's not been an effort to make all the parent birds homogeneous for rose comb gene? And thinking of the wild size variations I've seen in different hatchery birds of the same breed, I'm not comfortable judging on that, either.

An aside: It is temperament that really is turning me off from large hatcheries (my cockerel from a show line is better with the hens than ANY of the half-dozen hatchery cockerels I've had), but the loose way that different breeds from hatcheries are so similar as to be indistinguishable is a close second reason.

Sorry, didn't mean to go on a rant, there!