Breed Conundrum- should be pure; threw a splash!! Help!!

[NatJ]

The 3rd possibility; which I find rare. One of our hatchery pure BO is not pure from the hatchery.
I would lean toward this one, Blondie, because she is the blondest of them all.
But idk if BO can be that pale blonde.
Idt it’s SOP.

Blondie does not look right to me.
Buff Orpingtons are not supposed to be that light. Some chicken breeds are known for producing not-right chicks of certain types, but Buff Orpingtons are NOT known for producing birds like that.

So she might not be a pure Buff Orpington. She might be an accidental mix, or she might be a completely different kind of chicken that ended up in the pen by mistake.

Get 12 perfect little gold fluff balls; and a blonde with black spots up its back!!!

It will be interesting to see what color feathers that chick grows. And the feather color may help figure out what is going on here.

1. One of my children accidentally mixed an egg up. Problem with that theory is that the dad would be an Americana & good chance it’d be an Easter egger; could be a few different ones but I do have a lot of “Easter egger” breeds in that pen.

Take a good look at the comb and the feet of the chick. Buff Orpington chicks should all have single combs, clean feet, and the normal 4 toes (3 pointing forward, 1 back). If the chick has a different comb type, or feathered feet, or extra toes, then you can be certain it is not a pure Orpington. If it does not have any unexpected traits, you will not know for sure either way.

Posting a photo of the head of your "Americana" rooster might help. Depending on his comb type, it might be possible for him to produce single comb chicks, or it might not be. If he cannot produce single comb chicks, then comb type would show for sure which pen the chick must come from (Orpington pen or other pen.)

My plan was to sell this as pure but idk about that atm.

I would not sell the odd chick as a pure Buff Orpington. It definitely looks wrong, so even if it does happen to be purebred it would count as a cull (which certainly could be sold, but not labeled "Buff Orpington.")

Given the light-colored hen in your Buff Orpington pen, I would probably not sell any chicks from that pen as pure Buff Orpingtons (because if she is not a pure Buff Orpington, then neither are her chicks, and you probably have no way to be sure which of the chicks are hers.)

 

[MysteryChicken]

Blondie does not look right to me.
Buff Orpingtons are not supposed to be that light. Some chicken breeds are known for producing not-right chicks of certain types, but Buff Orpingtons are NOT known for producing birds like that.

So she might not be a pure Buff Orpington. She might be an accidental mix, or she might be a completely different kind of chicken that ended up in the pen by mistake.


It will be interesting to see what color feathers that chick grows. And the feather color may help figure out what is going on here.


Take a good look at the comb and the feet of the chick. Buff Orpington chicks should all have single combs, clean feet, and the normal 4 toes (3 pointing forward, 1 back). If the chick has a different comb type, or feathered feet, or extra toes, then you can be certain it is not a pure Orpington. If it does not have any unexpected traits, you will not know for sure either way.

Posting a photo of the head of your "Americana" rooster might help. Depending on his comb type, it might be possible for him to produce single comb chicks, or it might not be. If he cannot produce single comb chicks, then comb type would show for sure which pen the chick must come from (Orpington pen or other pen.)


I would not sell the odd chick as a pure Buff Orpington. It definitely looks wrong, so even if it does happen to be purebred it would count as a cull (which certainly could be sold, but not labeled "Buff Orpington.")

Given the light-colored hen in your Buff Orpington pen, I would probably not sell any chicks from that pen as pure Buff Orpingtons (because if she is not a pure Buff Orpington, then neither are her chicks, and you probably have no way to be sure which of the chicks are hers.)

One of our friends has Buff Orpingtons as light as the hen in question.


I had one as well. Best looking bird I had, but gave away to a lady who lost her chickens to a predator.

 

[MysteryChicken]

She produced Buffy, that was the correct golden/orange buff shade the SOP requires.
Only good pictures I have of her are when she was younger, the picture of her when she was grown up is in terrible lighting makes her darker then what she really was.

 

[BlessedChaosHomestead]

There is Easter, the EE/Americana roo.

As for Blondie not being pure, what type of chicken could she be if not BO? Idk any other pure yellow chicken.
Will check feet of chick & get back.

 

[Clementine2022]

Ok hatched 13 Buff Orpington chicks.
Breeding pen is 4 BO hens, 1 BO Roo.

Get 12 perfect little gold fluff balls; and a blonde with black spots up its back!!!

I am baffled. View attachment 3706381View attachment 3706383

Can pure buff Orpingtons throw splash?

If not there is only 2 other possibilities.

1. One of my children accidentally mixed an egg up. Problem with that theory is that the dad would be an Americana & good chance it’d be an Easter egger; could be a few different ones but I do have a lot of “Easter egger” breeds in that pen.

2. The home hatched Buff Orpington we had in the spring is not pure BO.
But she looks, to my knowledge, SOP BO!



View attachment 3706385View attachment 3706386View attachment 3706387View attachment 3706388View attachment 3706389View attachment 3706390

The 3rd possibility; which I find rare. One of our hatchery pure BO is not pure from the hatchery.
I would lean toward this one, Blondie, because she is the blondest of them all.
But idk if BO can be that pale blonde.
Idt it’s SOP.

View attachment 3706398

What’s yalls thoughts & opinions on this?

My plan was to sell this as pure but idk about that atm.

keep this one as she is special... or send her to me and I will love her all her life

 

[BlessedChaosHomestead]

 

[NatJ]

View attachment 3706735There is Easter, the EE/Americana roo.

Based on the photos of the chick, and of the Easter Egger, I think the chick probably just came from the breeding pen with the Easter Egger rooster.

That rooster should produce pea comb chicks. I think he probably cannot produce single-comb chicks, but I am only about 75% sure of that.

I think the chick has a pea comb. It can be hard to tell on very young chicks, so that is something to watch as the chick grows older (the comb type should become more obvious over time.) But if the chick does indeed have a pea comb, then it could not come from any chickens in the Orpington pen (all single combs there).

As for Blondie not being pure, what type of chicken could she be if not BO? Idk any other pure yellow chicken.

As regards what other kinds of chickens can look yellowish, the first one that springs to my mind it "Amber Star" (a hybrid that lays brown eggs), but that is probably not the only kind of yellowish chicken that can exist.

As for whether Blondie could be a Buff Orpington or not: I didn't think so, but I see that someone else says she could be one. There is always the chance that the pictures are showing in different colors on different people's computers or phones. So the color I am seeing may not match what anyone else is seeing, and I have no way to know which one matches the actual chicken color.

So I will just settle for saying that I don't know about Blondie.

If the mystery chick had the Easter Egger father, and came from an egg that was laid in the non-Orpington pen, then it looks like all your Orpingtons are producing chicks that look right for their breed (which is good evidence that the Orpingtons may all be correct Orpingtons.)

 

[BlessedChaosHomestead]

Look at her colors now!