Chick ID

[farmerkait]

4 chicks I got from the discount bin at a hatchery.

1st one is yellow (mustard)
2nd one is brown (Florence)
3rd one is black and yellow (prismo)
4th one is yellow/gray (sage)

Can you help me identify the breeds?? Thx!

 

[NatJ]

4 chicks I got from the discount bin at a hatchery.

Which hatchery? Sometimes that helps with identifying breeds, because different hatcheries carry different ones.

1st one is yellow (mustard)

It will probably grow up to be white, but there are so many breeds I can't say which one at this age.

Things that can help narrow down the breed options as it grows older:
Comb type (maybe single?)
Foot color (white or yellow?)
Whether the feet are feathered or clean
Earlobe color (white or red)
Egg color (if it is female)
Body shape and size

If it has a single comb and clean yellow feet, it is probably one of these:
White Leghorn (slender body, white earlobes, large comb, lays white eggs)
White Rock (medium body, red earlobes, lays brown eggs)
Cornish Cross (very chunky body, usually obvious by the time the bird is a month old, often has health problems by age 2-3 months, best used for meat.)
Sexlink male (would probably get red patches in the shoulder feathers within a few months)

Other options exist, I just think those are the most likely ones based on what I see now and what breeds are common.

2nd one is brown (Florence)

Probably an Easter Egger

3rd one is black and yellow (prismo)

Maybe a Mottled Ancona. I'm pretty sure it's mottled, can't immediately think of any other clean-legged mottled breed.

4th one is yellow/gray (sage)

I would guess Lavender color, but I can't think of a breed with feathered legs and lavender color, so that one has me stumped for now.

 

[Farmgirl283420]

could the last one be a lavender orpington?

 

[NatJ]

could the last one be a lavender orpington?

Those feathered feet do not look right for an Orpington.

 

[Farmgirl283420]

Those feathered feet do not look right for an Orpington.

I don’t know much about this so I was just curious!

 

[NatJ]

I don’t know much about this so I was just curious!

Orpingtons are supposed to have clean feet. That chick definitely has feathered feet. That is why I wasn't seriously considering Orpington.

I'm not sure if the chick has a single comb or not. Orpingtons would also have single combs.

I might think the chick was a Cochin (the most common breed to have feathered feet and a single comb from hatcheries in the USA), but I don't know of any hatcheries offering Lavender Cochins. That's partly why I asked about which hatchery, to look through their breed list and see if Lavender Cochins might be a possibility.

 

[Farmgirl283420]

Orpingtons are supposed to have clean feet. That chick definitely has feathered feet. That is why I wasn't seriously considering Orpington.

I'm not sure if the chick has a single comb or not. Orpingtons would also have single combs.

I might think the chick was a Cochin (the most common breed to have feathered feet and a single comb from hatcheries in the USA), but I don't know of any hatcheries offering Lavender Cochins. That's partly why I asked about which hatchery, to look through their breed list and see if Lavender Cochins might be a possibility.

Could it be a lavender pekin?

 

[NatJ]

Could it be a lavender pekin?

Pekin/Cochin, different name, pretty much the same thing.

The big question would be, does that hatchery have them in lavender? I just checked the websites of 5 different hatcheries, and found one with "Self Blue Cochins" (same thing as Lavender Cochin/Pekin). The other 4 did not have them.

If the hatchery does have them, I agree that is probably the correct id for that chick.

 

[farmerkait]

Which hatchery? Sometimes that helps with identifying breeds, because different hatcheries carry different ones.


It will probably grow up to be white, but there are so many breeds I can't say which one at this age.

Things that can help narrow down the breed options as it grows older:
Comb type (maybe single?)
Foot color (white or yellow?)
Whether the feet are feathered or clean
Earlobe color (white or red)
Egg color (if it is female)
Body shape and size

If it has a single comb and clean yellow feet, it is probably one of these:
White Leghorn (slender body, white earlobes, large comb, lays white eggs)
White Rock (medium body, red earlobes, lays brown eggs)
Cornish Cross (very chunky body, usually obvious by the time the bird is a month old, often has health problems by age 2-3 months, best used for meat.)
Sexlink male (would probably get red patches in the shoulder feathers within a few months)

Other options exist, I just think those are the most likely ones based on what I see now and what breeds are common.


Probably an Easter Egger


Maybe a Mottled Ancona. I'm pretty sure it's mottled, can't immediately think of any other clean-legged mottled breed.


I would guess Lavender color, but I can't think of a breed with feathered legs and lavender color, so that one has me stumped for now.

Meyer hatchery in Polk Ohio! Thank you for your detailed response! I was also confused by the little gray one

 

[Farmgirl283420]

Pekin/Cochin, different name, pretty much the same thing.

The big question would be, does that hatchery have them in lavender? I just checked the websites of 5 different hatcheries, and found one with "Self Blue Cochins" (same thing as Lavender Cochin/Pekin). The other 4 did not have them.

If the hatchery does have them, I agree that is probably the correct id for that chick.

Interesting I didn’t know that!