Bantam identification?

[renk777]

This little black chick is the one we call Milla. It might be a roo but we're thinking positive...hence the girly name. Quiet and sweet. But slow to feather out. Comb is fairly small so going with pullet for now but suspect this could change

 

[renk777]

This is Marley. 'She' is fairly feathered and is the one with the white wing tips and foot feathers. Her ear fuzz is not solid black as is that of the other black chicks and I've found a connection between ear fuzz at 3+ weeks and eventual head color. Granted, the ear fuzz is just coming in so it might become totally black but still hoping this one might be Birchen. Or even a mottled...though emerging feathers at this point show no indication she's anything but black. Not top dog in the bunch and acts like a pullet in the brooder but very erect and alert and zoomy when taken out. Comb is small and irregular. Going with pullet for now. Including a bunch of photos just to show how erect she stands. She's our smallest chick

 

[renk777]

Last but not least...Willow! Our newest addition. Just a pile of sugar. Really feathered out...small comb...acts like a pullet. Wants nothing more than to hide her head under a wing or my neck or a blanket so getting her to stand for photo wasn't happening. Total sweetheart. Nothing about her at this point suggests roo. Going with pullet! She and Marley are my favorites if I had to choose...and Milla comes a close second ❤

 

[renk777]

Didn't include this yesterday but here's a pic of SP Cochin roo's wattles

 

[renk777]

So, exciting news...for me! Went to change the water in the brooder before heading to bed tonight and had the urge to pull out Marley (the cochin chick with the white footies and wing tips.) To date, whenever I examine her, all emerging feathers are black. But tonight...tonight, I am seeing bright white feather tips on her neck!!! Woo hoo! My hunch was right...she is different! Not sure yet if she's birchen (more probable) or mottled (that would be amazing!) but I'd be happy with either. My favorite color combo is white/black/gray/rust and it seems as though my little bantie flock is going to be the perfect combo of that. And it'll be easy to tell them all apart...so no foot bands! So happy. This supports my observation that 3 week ear fuzzies can be really telling of eventual head/neck color. Marley's aren't solid black like Harper's and Milla's...they're white with broken black in the center. It was accurate with my EEs this year as well...all 5 of them. So for anyone getting a mixed variety of chicks and wondering about eventual plumage, ear fuzzies might help in determining which variety you have I'll take pics of the bunch again mid-week of next week when they're 4 weeks old. By then, the white feathers might be more evident. I'd love for others that have seen birchen or mottled chicks to weigh in with which they think Marley might be Pics of either variety at around 3 or 4 weeks would be awesome so that I can compare!

 

[renk777]

Had some free time so grabbed little Marley and brought her up to my desk and we surfed the web to figure out what she is. Since i use DuckDuckGo, results are fewer than if I used google but we did our best. Looked at pics/vids of Birchen chicks and mottled chicks and noticed something. Birchen are solid black except for their head/neck/chest. Mottleds can be fairly black with white tips starting to emerge around Marley's age (in some cases) but (and the key word is just that...butt) Mottled cochins seem to have white butts. Birchens have black. I suppose some mottled black cochins and some black cochins split for mottled might have the black bums but I can't say for sure. Saw one vid where bums weren't white...but based on the assumption that white bums are typically mottled and black is Birchen, I flipped Marley over to check out what her feathering is. And it's black..so growing more certain by the day that my sweet little fluffer-butter is a Birchen. Still not ruling out mottled but just leaning heavily to Birchen ❤

 

[renk777]

Even more excited! Pulled Milla out because no one held her today and wanted to make sure she felt loved as well and look! She's Birchen too!! I know I was going to wait until Wednesday to take 4 week photos but I am so excited! Now my son's favorite is the all black bird and that is what he wanted so badly. He will be so happy to know his little Harper is unique. And me....well, I wanted variety and that's exactly what I got. A perfect little mix of cochins and an RIR. Now I can compare Marley's feathers to Milla's and figure out sooner if they're the same. If the white is random and only non-pigmented tips on feathers, she's mottled. If they're like Milla's, we have 2 birchen. How cool!

 

[renk777]

Feels weird having a one sided conversation with myself but trusting that one day, someone will grab a handful of bantams from a Cackle-supplied bin and appreciate being able to read this to help them figure out what they got

Pulled out Milla (Birchen) and Marley (probable birchen/potential mottled) today to compare 'white' in feathers. Milla's white is thin and just tips the feathers...more noticeably further up the chest and recedingly down the chest. This is consistent with pics I've seen of Birchen. Marley's tips are more broad and not on every feather emerging in the neck area. There are 2 white tipped feathers with a solid black feather emerging in between them. I looked over the rest of her body and noticed she has more white tips emerging on upper edge of wings. Still have the gut feeling I can't shake that she's mottled... only atypical. Probably a split to mottled with the occasional leakage.

My daughter's b-day is tomorrow so I probably won't take pics for a couple days...got her a surf board so I know I'll be spending a couple days at the beach. Hoping when I do grab pics, the white feathers will be more telling!

Now to worry if Milla is a pullet or roo. Despite the small comb and medium degree of feathering, I'm wary she might surprise us and be a roo. Something about the feel of her body and the shape of her comb. The same reason her comb shape makes me worry she could be a 'he' is the same reason I have hope that Hazel, with her 2nd largest comb in the bunch AND noticeable wattles, might still be a she and not the 'he' she appears to be.

Prior to my EE, Reeces, I wouldnt have questioned the telltale comb/wattle indicator. But Reeces had a huge roo shaped comb early on and wattles emerged early as well. Both were dark pink by 5 weeks. She had huge, thick legs and aside from plumage that assured me she was a pullet, she was so roo-esque that I ran out for more chicks. My life is notorious for being rife with things that couldn't possibly happen happening to me none-the-less. Why not a roo with pullet markings? Ha! Her comb was noticeably large until about 6 or 7 weeks when she just had a growth spurt and suddenly, her disproportionately large comb
began to look proportionate for a pullet. She is definitely a she and a huge bird and now has me questioning.

I doubt I'll have any true idea of what these 2 are until closer to 6 weeks. In the meantime, hoping all in question are pullets!

 

[renk777]

Another observation...suspected roo has feathers emerging everywhere. He looks so funny and cute. More and more white feathers are showing up on neck/chest. I've looked at photos of hatchery SP cochin bantams and his white appears it will be so extensive, that I remain certain he's a roo.

As for Hazel...her detail on wing tips is more contrast-y. She's the slowest to feather...and has the 2nd largest comb...but the shape of the comb is more pullet-like and to date, I don't see all the white. But there are 2 feathers that popped out on her wings that are a sort of partridge pattern....something that the roo doesnt have even though he has more extensive feathering. If more such feathers emerge on Hazel and NOT on the roo, then I'll assume that is one way to determine gender in chicks around 4+ weeks of age

 

[renk777]

Not at the beach today...though the weather is gorgeous! But pulled out the little fluffers for their 4 week photo shoot! I'll try to keep them in relatively the same order as before. First up...Cherry. 'She' is all personality and zips all over the place. Placed her on counter and she immediately flew into my kangaroo fern. Acts and often stands rooish and has the slightest hint of emerging wattles but comb remains small and she's the fastest to feather out. Still going with pullet for now but I have my reservations.