Black Ameraucana or Barred Rock?

[aoxa]

Aoxa, They are all very beautiful. Would you say your lesser quality has a more haphazard barring compared to your show line boy? Also am I correct when looking at pics that the female will be more black with white barring and the males are more white with black barring or is it an illusion I am seeing?

The boys have more precise barring, and there is more white, it's not just an illusion. Though the white makes the black barring look grey, it is black from what I understand.

Here is a side by side for colour comparison.

 

[bcmama]

Here is my other "pullet" Dottie, I picked up at the same time. She had a comb from the day we brought her home (at two days old). It hasn't really gotten any bigger but my other "BR" Daisy that I have shown doesn't really have much of one yet. Dottie is the heaviest of all my chicks weighing in at around 4.5 oz as opposed to the next heaviest at 4 oz (2.5 weeks old). She was also the first to start feathering having the most feathers at this point. She is also Miss Bossypants but loves to just sit and perch on you.

How's her coloring and look for a BR?











Okay I don't know why they turned upside down and sideways. Oh well

 

[aoxa]

Here is my other "pullet" Dottie, I picked up at the same time. She had a comb from the day we brought her home (at two days old). It hasn't really gotten any bigger but my other "BR" Daisy that I have shown doesn't really have much of one yet. Dottie is the heaviest of all my chicks weighing in at around 4.5 oz as opposed to the next heaviest at 4 oz (2.5 weeks old). She was also the first to start feathering having the most feathers at this point. She is also Miss Bossypants but loves to just sit and perch on you. How's her coloring and look for a BR? Okay I don't know why they turned upside down and sideways. Oh well

They are both pullets, and classic hatchery grade as well. I find that hatchery barred rock girls have very messy barring (as do the boys, but not as much as the girls).

This is a comb you would worry about. Both of your girls are girls, and unless they get pink and really big, they are barred rock pullets. The only way they would be males is if they were black sex links. The boys will look like barred rock girls right up until they start to develop a comb.

Here is a barred rock cross. It is a boy, but has female colouring. This is because females get only 1 copy of the barring gene from their father and males have two from both parents, making them appear lighter when you are breeding pure lines. If you use a barred hen and an unbarred rooster, only your boys will be barred, because girls do not get their barring gene from their mother. The case above is not a sex link. My father of them was the barred rock. Mother was a Wyandotte. ETA: Oh and the white one has a barred rock father as well, but I won't get into the confusingness of the recessive white gene..

 

[bcmama]

Aoxa,
You have been very helpful and I really appreciate it!! What is it about hatcheries that makes them lesser quality? Are hatcheries the equivalent of puppy mills? Have I just made a huge faux pas in purchasing from a hatchery? The first pic you just posted with the BR and the brown hen? how old is that chick?

 

[aoxa]

Aoxa, You have been very helpful and I really appreciate it!! What is it about hatcheries that makes them lesser quality? Are hatcheries the equivalent of puppy mills? Have I just made a huge faux pas in purchasing from a hatchery? The first pic you just posted with the BR and the brown hen? how old is that chick?

That hen is a buff Orpington. She raised my five heritage barred rock chicks, but unfortunately passed away from an internal laying issue. She was GORGEOUS.

She was the best mother I ever had. She mothered those chicks until they were 10 weeks old. There is nothing wrong with hatchery chicks, but they focus on breeding for profit, not for breeding to the standard of perfection for the breed. Good thing about hatchery chicks is: They have lesser chances of diseases, they can be vaccinated if requested, they are cheap, and lay like crazy! We do not have hatcheries like you do. We have one, and it is in Western Canada. I live on the other side of the country, so I can only buy from breeders. Unless I wanted to spend $150 to have them delivered by plane lol. There are some hatcheries that I wouldn't personally buy from because of some of the things they do to baby roosters, but I'm not fully aware which ones are better than others. I never had to consider buying from a hatchery before. There are a ton of breeders that I don't condone either. So many places keep their birds in really small breeding pens, and it makes me sad.. Mine all free range throughout the year, but I plan to make them decent sized pens for next spring so I can get purebred chicks. The disposition on my hatchery quality barred rocks is incomparable. My rooster is the BEST rooster behaviour wise.

Look at him feeding his competition! What a man! And no problem, I love helping in any way I can!

 

[bcmama]

She is very beautiful! All of your birds are very beautiful! Thanks so much again!!

 

[aoxa]

She is very beautiful!  All of your birds are very beautiful!  Thanks so much again!!

Thanks Buff Orpingtons from a hatchery are known for their people skills. Mine was not a fan of us.

By the way, only one breed has beat the barred rock for the friendliness factor to me, and that's the RSL. You will have some very sweet girls!

 

[lonnyandrinda]

One additional point about "hatchery" chicks (and this can vary based on the hatchery) is many people are of the opinion that hatchery chicks are bred to be laying machines- and burn out very quickly (2 years max). Non hatchery birds that don't have as high of a yearly output of eggs can be very good layers for 4-5 years.