Can anyone identify this chicken?

[Aroha]

A couple of 'extras' have moved in with my chickens - I haven't found their owner, so I'm thinking of giving them to a friend. Before I do, I wondered if anyone can identify the breed, and reassure me that they are girls.

I've only got a decent photo of one of them - this is the more 'rooster-ish' one as it has longer neck feathers and a fluffy face. Otherwise they are very similar - same size, same colour, same tail, roughly the same comb. They are quite timid (not surprising as they are the newbies), about the same height as my silver laced wyandottes but a lot more slender. I've looked at lots of photos but can't work out what breed they are, but they are very pretty!

Thank you!

 

[junebuggena]

Looks like an Easter Egger mix.

 

[Aroha]

Oo, they lay green eggs, don't they? I might not be giving them to my friend if that's the case! Do you think it's a girl?

Photos of araucanas came up when I googled Easter Eggers - some of them they look quite similar too.

Thanks heaps

 

[junebuggena]

Oo, they lay green eggs, don't they? I might not be giving them to my friend if that's the case! Do you think it's a girl?

Photos of araucanas came up when I googled Easter Eggers - some of them they look quite similar too.

Thanks heaps

The bird pictured is definitely a rooster. In New Zealand, Araucana is a recognized breed. Easter Eggers, there, are usually Araucana mixes. There is no guarantee of egg color genetics. They can have the genes for producing just about any egg color, and there is no way to tell by looking what color a hen will lay until she actually does lay, hence the name Easter Egger.

 

[Aroha]

Hmm well, if it's a rooster, there's not much chance of green eggs! It sounds like it is an araucana, or at least part - there is someone in town who breeds lavendar araucanas so it makes sense that there would be a few of those birds around. I'm quite disappointed that it's a boy though. It looks a lot less showy than my wyandotte rooster, and I haven't heard it crow - or is crowing just for the dominant roo (we have a rooster already)?

I'll try and get a clear photo of the other - what are the distinguishing features that I should look out for? The other one has shorter neck feathers (although still longer than my other chooks) and it doesn't have a fluffy face.

 

[junebuggena]

He's still fairly young, about 14 to 20 weeks old, so not crowing around a dominant rooster is pretty normal. What tells me that it's a male is the feathering. Just look at the flowing 'Fabio' style neck feathers and the long, thin, pointed feathers on the back. Only males get those feathers.