Buff Orpington or Easter Egger? Large one a Cockerel?

[David1998]

Ideal Poultry gave me a few extra chicks with my order of pullets: Buff Opringtons, Easter Eggers, Barred Rocks, Dominques, and Rhode Island Reds. They confirmed that the extras were not extra males added for warmth. I thought the 5 yellow ones were all Buff Opringtons, which I had ordered 3 of. I’m now questioning that 2 of them may be Easter Eggers. Not counting these, I already have 2 more Easter Eggers than I ordered. They are a week and a half old.

Three of the chicks have nice buff feathers. Two have much lighter feathers that are buff to almost white. All 5 have single combs and no muffs like the other Easter Eggers I got. The two lighter feathered one’s feet are also lighter yellow than the three.

I am also concerned that 1 of the 3 more buff ones is a cockerel. It is noticeably larger and its feather development is way behind all the others: 1 inch feathers as compared to the 2-2.5 inch feathers of the others. Of all my chicks, it’s the most inquisitive and come right to me when I walk up to their brooder.

What breed do you think the 2 lighter ones are?

Do you think the 1 large one with short feathers is a cockerel?

Pictures:
All of my chicks out in the grass for the first time. The suspected cockerel is the second yellow one from the right side:



Buff Orpington on Right, Lighter Colored Chick in Question on Left:


Buff Orpington Below, Lighter Colored Chick in Question Above:


Larger, slow feathering Buff Orpington, Possible Cockerel:

 

[BantamLover21]

I agree with you that the lighter ones don't look a lot like Buff Orpingtons--I would suspect that they are a white breed, like the White Leghorn or White Rock. However, buff and white chicks look very similar when they're young, so you could just have some lighter colored Buff Orpingtons. You'll know for sure when they're older. I do not think they are EEs.

Slow feathering is a common cockerel trait, but it is too young to tell. I've had chicks feather very slowly and still end up being pullets, and I've had fast feathering cockerels.

 

[David1998]

I agree with you that the lighter ones don't look a lot like Buff Orpingtons--I would suspect that they are a white breed, like the White Leghorn or White Rock. However, buff and white chicks look very similar when they're young, so you could just have some lighter colored Buff Orpingtons. You'll know for sure when they're older. I do not think they are EEs.

Slow feathering is a common cockerel trait, but it is too young to tell. I've had chicks feather very slowly and still end up being pullets, and I've had fast feathering cockerels.

The lighter one's feathers are a mix of buff, yellow, to white. They aren't solid white.

 

[Wyandottes7]

I personally think that they are Buff Orpingtons, not Easter Eggers. Its too young to tell for sure whether the large one is a cockerel- I'd post more photos of "him" in a couple of weeks.

 

[Michael OShay]

I personally think that they are Buff Orpingtons, not Easter Eggers. Its too young to tell for sure whether the large one is a cockerel- I'd post more photos of "him" in a couple of weeks.

X2 on Buff Orpingtons, and on posting more photos of the large one in a couple of weeks.

 

[David1998]

Thanks for the replies. I haven’t had buff oprington chicks before, only full grown ones. I was surprised by how lightly colored the two are. Time will tell.

 

[speckledhen]

• The one with the white wing feathers is not a Buff Orp, IMO. It appears to be feathering in like a Red Sex link cockerel, which will end up mostly white with red in the wingbow area. Buff Orps do not have any white on them, or shall I say, they should never have white feathers.
• Hatchery stock is sometimes a crap shoot, so you may have the Forrest Gump Special (you never know what you're gonna get)