Can anyone help me identify

[fowlfriends4me]

I bought 4 little chicks together and they are 4 months old now. 2 were Ameraucana but the other two are a mystery to me. Please look at the light colored chicks and then look at the 4 month old birds. One of them is a rooster. The only pictures I can find of chicks that look like this are Leghorns or Easter Eggers, but my adult birds don't look like either of those. Here are the pictures.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Where did you get them? At a feed store or a private seller?

Your photo of the older birds is a bit dark so I can't see their feather patterns well...do they have some barring in that red?

I have a couple of breeds in mind, but do you have a clearer photo of the birds in good lighting?

LofMc

 

[fowlfriends4me]

Thank you so much! Sorry it took me a little while I had to wait for a break from my office. Here are pictures that I hope shed some light on the subject.

 

[fowlfriends4me]

I posted a reply earlier to Lady of McCamley and since have continued looking for pictures.....I found one on FeatherSite of a Brinkotter hen......do you think this could be my chicken and rooster? I hated for you to spend time looking if maybe....finally....after 4 months I may have found what I was looking for. FeatherSite was the only information I could find on the internet for this bird. I did buy the chicks from our farm store and I know they have advertised sex links. When they sell down a few different breeds they put them all into one tank and sometimes the salespeople don't know what's in there......I thought they were Ameraucanas since they were in with them and looked similar, but they are almost double my little Ameraucana's size and without the muffs and beard. thank you for your reply!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

If bought at a farm store, it won't be anything as exotic as a Brinkotter, nor Rhodebar (my thought as to asking for better pictures to see if barring present), nor Bielfelder.

I suspicion your one bird with the larger comb (unless it is crowing) is just a bit older and not a rooster...I'm not seeing a saddle or feathers indicating rooster....all nice and round like a hen.

So that leaves something like a Dixie Rainbow which is a hatchery cross of RIR and other things to end up with a dual purpose, hardy bird that is red barred.

My guess is you've got some Pioneers or Dixie Rainbows....and I think pullets close to lay as they mature quickly.

Murray McMurray hatchery sells them (which is one of the hatcheries feed stores purchase from):
https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/pioneer.html

LofMc

 

[drumstick diva]

hatcheries tend to label any breed as rare - makes it sound more appealing, at least till the buyer finds out what it really is.

 

[donrae]

I agree, don't be looking for some exotic imported breed from a feed store.

From the size and coloring, I'm thinking they're Dixie Rainbows or Pioneers.

 

[fowlfriends4me]

The feed store hadn't labelled them anything on this particular bin. They have sold assorted sex link chicks. They label them by name until they have a few left and then they put them - several different kinds - into one bin to consolidate them. Once they consolidate them, I'm not sure that the sales person is careful to put all the names of the birds that that particular bin may contain. That's why I didn't know what they were. I didn't realize a cross between a RI Red and a NH Red would be considered an exotic breed since they are common themselves. The description on Feather Site for a Brinkotter chicken was a cross between the RI Red and the NH Red. The picture matched my two birds perfectly as I've been looking for something to identify them since they started to outgrow my little Ameracauna's. They are 4 months old now. I'm pretty new to all of this but it's fun learning and hearing from others who have more experience!!