Bantam Progression Photos - Sex/Breed Confirmation Requested

[JeffreH]

Good morning all -- first time poster/long time lurker here,

We have a small flock of 8 bantams and I wanted to share the photos with you folks for breed and gender confirmation. We are absolutely smitten with all of these chickies and are hopeful that we only have one cockerel… They are all just so sweet and full of personality. All of these were ordered as sexed 1-day old pullets (female) from ‘My Pet Chicken’, but we know that at least one is definitely a male.


We have 2 Mottled Cochin bantams (Octavia & Caroline), 2 Mille Fleur d’uccles (Unnamed Cockerel & Mabel), and 4 assorted bantams... From which we think that we received 2 Easter Egger bantams (Jane GoodEgg “Janie” & Ethel); 1 Buff Brahma bantam (Spring); and 1 Barred Rock bantam (Dorothy).


I will share some progression photos below and would appreciate any input. Do we seem to have the breeds correct? What about gender based on their appearance and progression?

__


MALE D'UCCLE, FEMALE BUFF BRAHMA BANTAM, & FEMALE MOTTLED COCHINS


**All chicks are in same placement on all photos. Top left= Spring, Bottom left= Cockerel; Top right= Octavia; Bottom right= Caroline**


DAY 1 (Received on April 11, 2017)

-We originally thought that this set was the 2 d'uccles and 2 mottled cochins due to physical appearance as chicks. We now think that the lighter chick (Spring) is a buff brahma bantam from the assortment and the eye-liner brown/black (Mabel, next photo set) is actually the other d'uccle and not an EE as we originally thought.





1 Week Old





2 Weeks Old





5 Weeks Old





7 weeks Old





9 Weeks Old





11 Weeks Old







THREE “ASSORTED BANTAMS” & POSSIBLE FEMALE D'UCCLE


**All chicks are in same placement in photo progression. Top left = Mabel; Bottom left = Ethel; Top right = Janie; Bottom right = Dorothy**


1 DAY OLD (Arrived April 11, 2017)

-We originally thought this mix had 3 easter ever bantams and a barred rock bantam, but we now think that Mabel (top left) is a d'uccle due to feathered feet and white tips forming on feathers (the eye-liner as a baby and brown/black color distribution made us think an EE mix initially).






1 Week Old





2 Weeks Old





5 Weeks Old





7 Weeks Old





9 Weeks Old





11 Weeks Old







NOTES: We originally thought ‘Mabel’ was an EE, given her brown/black coloration and the eyeliner like makeup, but we now think she is the other female d’uccle because she is developing white feather tips and since ‘Spring’ appears to be a buff brahma bantam now. Dorothy (PBRB) was a very slow grower and dealt with some issues early on but she is a complete butterball now. Octavia (cochin) has had a particularly bold and fearless personality out of the box. Most others are quite calm, but the cockerel has gotten slightly more skittish with time (relaxes once held). Janie and Ethel, the presumed EE's, are slightly more talkative/noisy than others but no one has crowed other than the male d'uccle. Both cochins seem to have medium-ish sized combs that vary in pinkness, so we would much appreciate any insight on the breed and sex determinations here =)




Thank you all! =) I can provide plenty of additional photos or video if needed. My girlfriend did an excellent job of photographing and documenting every chapter of their life thus far <3

Cheers!

 

[Kiki]

This is a wonderful thread! Give that girl friend of yours a hug pat on the back!
I can only confirm the bottom left "cockerel" in the first group of photos.
Sorry I am not familiar with bantams.

Welcome to BYC!

 

[drumstick diva]

Gorgeous photos, never seen any done that well before. Kudo's to your girlfriend.

agree with Kiki's girls

 

[JeffreH]

Thank you folks =)

If anyone would like to continue to weigh in on the genders, we would certainly appreciate the peace of mind of knowing (hoping) we have only one male.

I will try to dig up some better photos -- admittedly just read the stickied thread in this section and will try to get different angles as these are mostly lateral shots. Here is one of the group before being let out of their secondary gate/cave area for a full comparison shot.

I think we are pretty confident in our breed determinations at this point, assuming the Easter Egger Bantam's are indeed EE-type things, and Mabel is indeed a female d'uccle (the male d'uccle has always looked much more typical than her, but our experience is limited and these are by no means pure bloodlines coming from My Pet Chicken [Meyer, specifically]).

The male d'uccle is the only one who I would say has a truly red (and excessively large) comb, and he's the only one whose crowing now that they are all 11 weeks old. The boldness of one of the bantam cochins (Octavia) and her slightly slower feather development as a chick compared to her sister (Caroline) had us marginally concerned at first, but both appear to be phenotypically similar at this point and we think they are pullets. The size of the cochins' combs seems larger than the others in our flock and varies from yellowish-pinkish/redish; we are first-time chicken keepers, so we don't have as much comparison experience.

Thanks y'all!

 

[southern yankee chick]

They're gorgeous!!

 

[Kiki]

I'm still just seeing one for sure male.

 

[PNWskye]

Love the progression photos! Wish there were more out there like this post. Do you have an update for us?