bummer that you lost the two....
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Just to give an update,
we did have three of these crosses: offspring of a buff orpington rooster and a black australorp hen. Two of them were unfortunately killed when they got out of their enclosure and the neighbour's dog found them. The last one has tried to mate with the hen who hatched him every morning this week, so I am thinking it's a rooster, even though it has the buff/black colouring, and lovely wide feathers (not the lacey saddle feathers of a rooster yet, but perhaps he is still too young)
Cheers
The thing with Black Australorps is that you can't tell, by looking if the hen is silver or gold. The black pattern gene is covering the base color. Your crosses can't be sexed by coloring, unless you have already proven by a test breeding that your hen is silver. Considering that you've got only black/buff chicks, it's a fair bet that your Australorp hens are gold based, not silver.Just to give an update,
we did have three of these crosses: offspring of a buff orpington rooster and a black australorp hen. Two of them were unfortunately killed when they got out of their enclosure and the neighbour's dog found them. The last one has tried to mate with the hen who hatched him every morning this week, so I am thinking it's a rooster, even though it has the buff/black colouring, and lovely wide feathers (not the lacey saddle feathers of a rooster yet, but perhaps he is still too young)
Cheers
Still much too young to be certain.