Better pictures of my "mystery chicken". UPDATE: Mystery Solved

[skatcatla]

ok, here's some shots of her whole body; without wire in the way. Sorry for the blurriness of the last one..taking a picture of a moving chicken is pretty hard! Note the extremely long neck....

 

[silkiechicken]

It looks black sexlink like but is awefully buff around the head. Not quite the same as a black sexlink. I want to venture a guess she is a mutt of some sort.

 

[BeckyLa]

These pics make her look blue to me except around her neck. What's throwing me off is how long her neck seems to be, almost like a cross between a blue orp and a jungle fowl of some sort. I dunno. I think you said she came from a hatchery, if so I'd go back and look at pics of all the birds they sell and see if she's an exotic of some sort.

 

[skatcatla]

I sent the latest photos to Mypetchicken and they now agree that she's most likely a cross between a Jersey Black Giant (hence the long neck) and a SLW. So I should be expecting one big chicken!

Well I think the mystery is solved, thanks for everyone's guesses! That was fun!

 

[hinkjc]

That sounds about right. I see the lacing going down the chest and the nice green sheen is typical of black fowl. So, they are selling mutt chickens at mypetchicken?

What did you buy that you ended up with this type of bird? Please don't get me wrong..she's very pretty, but are they trying to pass off mixed breeds as pure for the uneducated. That's the feeling I'm getting.

Jody

 

[pipermark]

I tell you though that bird has a very cornish look to me, even though I know the body structure isnt right.

I would be concerned purchasing from this hatchery, even though these are obviously healthy birds, they have obviously allowed some rooster or hen to travel to places it shouldn't have gone.

My Gosh they want 50.00 for a sex link Pullet! you couldn't get 10.00 for that in my neck of the woods. They do allow small orders of chicks, though, so they could be good for many folks.

 

[skatcatla]

Gertie was my "extra" chick. I was surprised to get her actually! I had ordered a Barred Rock, a RIR and a Black Star, and because my order was only three chicks I guess they threw in the extra chick. I am also surprised to find I got a mix, although as a backyard hobbyist who just wants fresh eggs I don't mind too much. The important thing is that she is healthy and actually quite intelligent. I have no reason to believe the other three aren't pure breeds.

 

[silkiechicken]

I can tell you already that the barred rock is probably cuckoo in coloring (as most hatchery "barred" rocks are), the RIR is actually a production red (as goes the hatchery RIR), and that the black sexlink IS a mutt, as that's how they make sexlinks.

As long as you are happy with them and they are healthy, so what! Love them all the same.

 

[skatcatla]

What do you mean, silkie? I mean, I get that about the Black Star, but the other two look just like any other photos I've seen.

My BR looks just like this:
http://www.kerriskritters.com/barred rock wt.JPG

Although of course mine is younger and doesn't have her full comb yet.

 

[silkiechicken]

I guess I mean that unless you get your birds from a breeder, most, there are always exceptions, birds from hatcheries are not very good along the lines of the standard of what the breed should be. Thus they can still be sold as pure bred since they should breed true for their characteristics. For example, speckledhen has excellent examples of what RIR's really are. They are a deep mahogany color with black in their tails with very brick shaped bodies, while most hatchery RIR's look brown and are more rounded due to outcrossing to improve egg laying abilities. As for cuckoo vs barred, both are black and white, just that "barred" should be more regular and strong, while most "barred rocks" have a less ordered barring on them.

Edit: For example, this is one of my "RIR's" which really is a production red.