Black Australorp, Jersey Giant, or something else?

[Bernsen92]

I ordered 15 BA from McMurry and they are now 7-8 weeks old. (haven't lost a single one!) Now while most of them have the normal blue/pinkish legs with dark scaling, I've noticed that 2 of them have extremely bright yellow legs with the same dark scaling and also have quite a bit of yellow in their combs. They have the same green shimmer in their feathers as well.

I'm trying to figure out if this is just an anomaly that happens with hatchery stock, or if they may be some other breed. one is about the same size as the rest of the BA's, but the other is clearly the largest of the flock, but not by much. Everything I've read says they might be Jersey Giants, but from what I understand, they only have yellow on the bottom of their feet whereas mine are colored yellow all over their legs.


here is the roo in question:

and here is one I know for sure is a BA:

 

[Cyprus]

The ones with yellow are black Jersey Giants.

 

[Frazzemrat1]

Agreed. Yellow = BJG

 

[feathermaid]

Hatcheries are not known for offering the best quality stock. Nothing wrong with their chicks, just not exactly SOP. They breed so many birds and probably don't cull defects as heavily as a smaller-scale breeder would, so sometimes recessive traits show up. I think I've also heard that fertility can decrease in overly successive line breeding so sometimes hatcheries will cross in another breed to "freshen" the line. If you want truly perfect birds, you would have to pay more and buy from a reputable breeder.

 

[Bernsen92]

Hatcheries are not known for offering the best quality stock. Nothing wrong with their chicks, just not exactly SOP. They breed so many birds and probably don't cull defects as heavily as a smaller-scale breeder would, so sometimes recessive traits show up. I think I've also heard that fertility can decrease in overly successive line breeding so sometimes hatcheries will cross in another breed to "freshen" the line. If you want truly perfect birds, you would have to pay more and buy from a reputable breeder.

I got 15 straight run BA's with the intent of selecting 2 roosters to keep and then processing the rest when they reach the proper weight. This is because I do want to hatch my own chicks, and I have thought about getting better genetic stock. which breeders would you recommend?

 

[feathermaid]

I got 15 straight run BA's with the intent of selecting 2 roosters to keep and then processing the rest when they reach the proper weight. This is because I do want to hatch my own chicks, and I have thought about getting better genetic stock. which breeders would you recommend?

Haha, I have no idea!
You could try asking around in your state thread for local breeders
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/find-your-states-thread.270925/
I'm pretty happy with my hatchery birds, but I'm not planning to breed them. You can still breed your hatchery stock, it may just take a few generations to get exactly what you want if you plan to show. Sorry I don't know more.

You can ask all your genetics questions and maybe find someone to advise the best breeders (to ship hatching eggs) here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/exhibition-genetics-breeding-to-the-sop.16188/
Good luck!

 

[Bernsen92]

Haha, I have no idea!
You could try asking around in your state thread for local breeders
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/find-your-states-thread.270925/
I'm pretty happy with my hatchery birds, but I'm not planning to breed them. You can still breed your hatchery stock, it may just take a few generations to get exactly what you want if you plan to show. Sorry I don't know more.

You can ask all your genetics questions and maybe find someone to advise the best breeders (to ship hatching eggs) here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/exhibition-genetics-breeding-to-the-sop.16188/
Good luck!

Well thankfully I'm not planning on showing any of them,(except on here of course lol), just looking more for a small homestead type flock.

 

[Acre4Me]

I got 15 straight run BA's with the intent of selecting 2 roosters to keep and then processing the rest when they reach the proper weight. This is because I do want to hatch my own chicks, and I have thought about getting better genetic stock. which breeders would you recommend?

Where are you located and are you specifically looking for BA to breed?

 

[Bernsen92]

Where are you located and are you specifically looking for BA to breed?

I'm in Effingham SC. My end goal is to have chickens for meat and eggs for myself and to give to family/friends by hatching out my own stock. I simply picked the BA because it seemed like a good dual purpose breed that filled those needs. The deeper I get into this hobby, the more I realize how important starting off with genetic good stock is.