Black Austrolorp?

[MandyMusshafen]

This chick is 7 weeks old, and was supposed to be a black austrolorp. I bought 10 of them from Hoover's via the TSC website as sexed pullets. This is the only one with the little white "muff"? Is it a cockrel? I would expect more pink, but these are my first austrolorps so IDK. Is it a mixed breed? Something wrong? I'll include 2 pics of some of the others (I'm 98% sure they are all girls) at the end for reference/comparison. Thanks in advance!

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

That's interesting! You gotta remember, Hoover's is selling "hatchery quality" birds, so they may not all fit the standard exactly. They 100% are not selecting for SOP, so you could have some weird stuff slip in there, and it just never gets pulled.

I would hope since they are still young, it's possible it's just residual light baby fluff that should hopefully grow out as she matures. Not a cockerel and not a "mix" per se, although who knows if a muffed bird jumped the bin at some point way down the line? I think it's just a non-standard trait that happens to have popped up. I wouldn't use this bird for breeding, but otherwise there's nothing wrong with her.

Congratulations on your new flock!

 

[Holdthechicken]

Interestingly big, colorless wattles on this one. The beard/muff is cute, but I agree it could be just baby fluff molting out.

My muffed/bearded birds have like zero wattle to speak of and I think that’s common.. but as always I could be wrong!

 

[MandyMusshafen]

That's interesting! You gotta remember, Hoover's is selling "hatchery quality" birds, so they may not all fit the standard exactly. They 100% are not selecting for SOP, so you could have some weird stuff slip in there, and it just never gets pulled.

I would hope since they are still young, it's possible it's just residual light baby fluff that should hopefully grow out as she matures. Not a cockerel and not a "mix" per se, although who knows if a muffed bird jumped the bin at some point way down the line? I think it's just a non-standard trait that happens to have popped up. I wouldn't use this bird for breeding, but otherwise there's nothing wrong with her.

Congratulations on your new flock!

Thanks!!! Glad to hear she is a she! And nothing wrong with her! The only breeding I'm dabbling in on purpose is with my bantam cochins, but I do have a full size rooster that the austrolorps run with that is a bym and several other hens that are bym so any babies I get from that one would fit in just fine with them! Lol
I honestly picked the austrolorps bc they are black and we have hawks, and they're awesome egg layers! I didn't want anymore roos so I went with the hatchery sexed ones! I've got some gold laced wyandottes that I got from hoovers also and about half of them have straight or a combo of straight/rose combs (one of them has a unicorn horn) so I won't be surprised if this chick is an odd ball too! I kinda hope the muff stays bc I think it is super cute! I'm pretty sure the wyandottes are also all pullets but they had me stumped for a while! I'll throw in a pic of one of them for fun! They are 13 weeks!

 

[MandyMusshafen]

Interestingly big, colorless wattles on this one. The beard/muff is cute, but I agree it could be just baby fluff molting out.

My muffed/bearded birds have like zero wattle to speak of and I think that’s common.. but as always I could be wrong!

Right! The wattles are super odd! I kinda hope the little muff stays! I think it's cute too!

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

One of her wattles looks kind of swollen to me? How does it feel?

 

[genxjanette]

My Australorps came from Hoovers too, and they both had/still have white muffs. I have noticed that they are getting darker as they are getting older. Mine were hatched on May 24th. I also agree that yours is a hen. From what I have researched on Australorps is that the little roos get really red combs and wattles very, very early on, like 3 to 4 weeks.

 

[MandyMusshafen]

One of her wattles looks kind of swollen to me? How does it feel?

One of her wattles looks kind of swollen to me? How does it feel?

It feels ok! No heat or swelling to the touch and it didn't seem to bother her when I messed with it!

 

[MandyMusshafen]

My Australorps came from Hoovers too, and they both had/still have white muffs. I have noticed that they are getting darker as they are getting older. Mine were hatched on May 24th. I also agree that yours is a hen. From what I have researched on Australorps is that the little roos get really red combs and wattles very, very early on, like 3 to 4 weeks.

Ours came in the mail on May 24th!!!! I believe they hatched on the 22nd! We could have sisters! Thanks for the input!