Blue Andalusian

[chicksandchores]

Alright folks, tractor supply strikes again... March 2 I got three blue Andalusians and I ended up with two pullets and one cockerel. All with bare shanks, the cockerel has developed VERY rapidly (think around double the size of the pullets at this age), super dark wash on his toes/legs, yellow feet, lovely blue color. Seems pretty standard to the breed, until today. Today while giving scratch, I noticed my little fellow has copper coming in on his shoulders! Not just one or two spots either; his adult feathers are coming in and his shoulders will be a lovely teal with copper in them if he sticks with this color pattern. My question is; what breed is he really? Could it just be that he’s mixed with something? Or is this just something that happens occasionally in andalusians?

 

[Leahs Coop]

Can you post a picture?

 

[chicksandchores]

Forgive me; it’s not quite as thickly present as I thought i recalled it being. It’s been a long hectic day here! Family is in from out of state, younger sister is graduating high school, cleaning and cooking and chauffeuring will make you remember things a bit differently lol. Here are the best pics I could get.

 

[Leahs Coop]

Forgive me; it’s not quite as thickly present as I thought i recalled it being. It’s been a long hectic day here! Family is in from out of state, younger sister is graduating high school, cleaning and cooking and chauffeuring will make you remember things a bit differently lol. Here are the best pics I could get. View attachment 1778342View attachment 1778344View attachment 1778345View attachment 1778346View attachment 1778348View attachment 1778349

I would say a mix because Blue Andalusians have white earlobes..

 

[springvalley123]

sapphire gems have red earlobes and they have the blue feathers, with the copper being described and shown. blue andalusians (even from hatchery in my somewhat limited experience) have lacing around each feather, which the birds shown (and the sapphire gems) lack.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Sapphire gem roosters are supposed to be barred though.

 

[springvalley123]

It's hard to find a picture of a rooster, but the ones i saw, had barring on the hackles and saddle. Be curious to see what this bird looks like now? Also, fwiw, I had only girls but they were fully feathered by 5 weeks and they were big babies on arrival. They started lay at week 18 to the day, and a few days later.

 

[chicksandchores]

It's hard to find a picture of a rooster, but the ones i saw, had barring on the hackles and saddle. Be curious to see what this bird looks like now? Also, fwiw, I had only girls but they were fully feathered by 5 weeks and they were big babies on arrival. They started lay at week 18 to the day, and a few days later.

I, too, would like to know what he looks like now. I sold him a month or two ago due to a surplus of roosters. I wasn’t sure of his breed and I’m trying to get some breeding programs started, so he needed to be one of the ones to go. His ladies have the body type of orpingtons, and I’ve wondered if that’s potentially what they are. They have no copper on them. However, they were all big as babies so perhaps they are sapphires. I can post pictures of them, they came from the same bin he was in and looked the same as chicks.

 

[chicksandchores]

These are the girls that came from the same bin as him. Thoughts?

 

[The Moonshiner]

They do look a lot like sapphire gem hens. And I think that's probably the most popular blue chicks sold lately a TSC.
I have a couple andalusian hens and they don't look anything like your hens.
Don't really look Orpington to me either unless they're really poorly bred ones.
I raised blue and black orps and not a ton of blue orps out there so I wouldn't guess that if they're from TSC.