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- #11
CharliesGarden
Chirping
It's been a month since my last post, here's an update on the babies! The first clutch is 2 months old, the second is 1 month old. I am still so in love with seeing them grow and show their colors. The small ones are not a fan of staying still 
I'm missing a good 2 month pic of the oldest, but everyone else is here.
The older Pyle pullets have developed grey/blue tails that match their slate legs. I have no idea what genes have done this, but they look so cool. I've also noticed that all the Pyle chicks look like their Pyle mother, except that they have white hackles, from their dad, whereas mom's got red/orange there.
I am proud to say that my assumption of white/pale yellow chick=pullet=blue shanks and orange chick=cockerel=white shanks has followed through in the newer chicks, so these seem to be facts of the cross. I am so excited that I did get one duckwing cockerel in the new batch, I can't wait to see how he colors in.
We currently have 7 cross pullets (5 Pyle, 2 Duckwing) and 4 cockerels (3 Pyle, 1 Duckwing). It seems like the ratio tends to lead toward Pyle chicks.
The last 3 (terrible) photos are our very first (BB Red) Old English Game chicks, which have turned out to be 2 cockerels and a pullet. I originally guessed we had 2 pullets and one cockerel, based solely on the level of red/orange present in the chick down, a guess due to the assumption that the color-sexable trait of the crosses must have come from the Game genes. One was very red with blurred markings, and I guessed (correctly) that this was a cockerel. Another was nearly brown, with very obvious markings, and I guessed (again, correctly) that this was a pullet. The second cockerel was originally guessed as a pullet, but had traits from both of the other chicks. His markings were obvious, but he was also quite orange compared to the pullet chick. About a week ago, I noticed that the two cockerels had grown their tails, and the pullet hadn't, and I started to guess that the questionable one was indeed a cockerel. I don't know if this breed is usually sexable as chicks by color and/or feathering rate but, from this small batch, it seems like mine may be...mostly.
I'm missing a good 2 month pic of the oldest, but everyone else is here.The older Pyle pullets have developed grey/blue tails that match their slate legs. I have no idea what genes have done this, but they look so cool. I've also noticed that all the Pyle chicks look like their Pyle mother, except that they have white hackles, from their dad, whereas mom's got red/orange there.
I am proud to say that my assumption of white/pale yellow chick=pullet=blue shanks and orange chick=cockerel=white shanks has followed through in the newer chicks, so these seem to be facts of the cross. I am so excited that I did get one duckwing cockerel in the new batch, I can't wait to see how he colors in.
We currently have 7 cross pullets (5 Pyle, 2 Duckwing) and 4 cockerels (3 Pyle, 1 Duckwing). It seems like the ratio tends to lead toward Pyle chicks.
The last 3 (terrible) photos are our very first (BB Red) Old English Game chicks, which have turned out to be 2 cockerels and a pullet. I originally guessed we had 2 pullets and one cockerel, based solely on the level of red/orange present in the chick down, a guess due to the assumption that the color-sexable trait of the crosses must have come from the Game genes. One was very red with blurred markings, and I guessed (correctly) that this was a cockerel. Another was nearly brown, with very obvious markings, and I guessed (again, correctly) that this was a pullet. The second cockerel was originally guessed as a pullet, but had traits from both of the other chicks. His markings were obvious, but he was also quite orange compared to the pullet chick. About a week ago, I noticed that the two cockerels had grown their tails, and the pullet hadn't, and I started to guess that the questionable one was indeed a cockerel. I don't know if this breed is usually sexable as chicks by color and/or feathering rate but, from this small batch, it seems like mine may be...mostly.
