Chicken Math is real. 0 to 10 in 72 hrs.

[janiedoe]

I forgot to ask earlier, but now that it's been a few more months, does anyone want to take a stab at guessing the breed of my birds that were mislabelled as Barred Rocks?
My untrained eye says both are single combs, albeit of different sizes. They are both about 4 months old and are noticeably smaller (75% size?) than most of the others(golden sex link, black sex link, RIR, and we think White Leghorn). Did we get sold bantams by mistake?
View attachment 3922588View attachment 3922587

They have the coloring of crested cream legbars but do not have the crest. They could be silver leghorns.
I'm going to guess they are either leghorns or slight possibility of olive eggers.

 

[NatJ]

I forgot to ask earlier, but now that it's been a few more months, does anyone want to take a stab at guessing the breed of my birds that were mislabelled as Barred Rocks?
My untrained eye says both are single combs, albeit of different sizes. They are both about 4 months old and are noticeably smaller (75% size?) than most of the others(golden sex link, black sex link, RIR, and we think White Leghorn). Did we get sold bantams by mistake?
View attachment 3922588View attachment 3922587

Can you weigh one of them?
In general, bantams are about 2 pounds and under, most other chickens are about 4 pounds and up.

Based on the coloring, they could be Silver Duckwing Old English Game Bantam (one of the most commonly-available bantam varieties). If they are under about 2 pounds, I think this is the right answer.

If they are bigger than that, I can't find any common pure breeds that would fit their appearance, but I do find a few rare ones:

Silver Leghorns
https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/silver_leghorns.html
(Would lay white eggs, visible traits all appear to be correct)

Silver Phoenix
https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/phoenix.html
(leg color is wrong, but otherwise they look about the same. More likely for the one with a long tail and an upright comb, less likely for the one with a shorter tail and flopped comb. Would lay white or off-white eggs, but maybe not very many of them.)

I'm ruling out Silver Dorkings, because of the leg length and body shape, plus Dorkings would have an extra toe on each foot:
https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/silver_gray_dorkings.html

If they lay blue or green eggs, then some kind of Easter Egger (mixed ancestry, but almost certainly has some Cream Legbar in there somewhere, to give that appearance.)

If they lay dark green eggs ("olive"), then Olive Eggers (mixed ancestry, again including some Cream Legbar.)

If they lay brown eggs, then they're some kind of hatchery hybrid I haven't seen before, or some pure/rare breed that I've forgotten about.

 

[NagemTX]

Not silver Phoenix because the legs are yellow. I would lean heavily to silver duckwing leghorn. I also don't believe they are OEGB again yellow legs and the OEGB have white legs.

 

[NatJ]

Not silver Phoenix because the legs are yellow. I would lean heavily to silver duckwing leghorn. I also don't believe they are OEGB again yellow legs and the OEGB have white legs.

I agree that the legs are the wrong color for Phoenix and for OEGB, but I wasn't completely ruling those out because of how many wrong-colored legs I have seen on hatchery birds. For example, I once had OEGB hens named "Whitefoot" and "Yellowfoot" for exactly that reason. And yes, they were ordered as specific-color OEGB from a hatchery, shipped directly to me, so I was very confident that the hatchery considered them to be OEGB.

If OP's birds are actual bantam size, I still think OEGB is most likely. But looking at the photos, I'm guessing they are not bantam size, but are in the small end of standard size, so I agree that Silver Leghorn is the most likely, unless they lay blue or green eggs.

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

The 8 additions which are a bit younger:
2x Golden Sex Link
2x Black Sex Link
2x Rhode Island Red
2x Barred Rock

Our current setup in the garage away from unmanageable children and curious dogs.
Left: The 2 mystery birds are the oldest got paired with the 2 barred rocks which are a bit older.
Right: The 6 others are much smaller so they get their own bin. I really ought to get a 2nd thermometer so I can keep closer tabs on their height. Guides I've seen seem to think they can deal with an almost 5F reduction in temperature for every year of life, so I'm trying to balance their heat needs with home safety. The nets don't seem to get that warm, but I don't want to burn my house down by accident!
View attachment 3809595

Barred Rocks are supposed to be black with a white dot on their head at that age………… how are the chipmunk looking ones feathering out?

 

[sourland]

I agree with the 'Silver Leghorn' guess.

 

[ATXInstantFlock]

Barred Rocks are supposed to be black with a white dot on their head at that age………… how are the chipmunk looking ones feathering out?

Hi! Thanks for posting on my thread and helping.
After seeing the photos that others had shared of Barred Rock chicks, I agree we definitely don't have those. I'm a little sad since I think Barred Rocks are beautiful, but we were definitely ignorant first time chick buyers. Can't really blame the random TSC worker for not knowing. There's a person who is VERY knowledgeable about chicks, but just happened to not be working the day we picked up our flock. In the end, I'm happy with my two chipmunk chicks have grown up into the beautiful gray/silver young ladies I shared a few days ago(quoted at the bottom).

Can you weigh one of them?
In general, bantams are about 2 pounds and under, most other chickens are about 4 pounds and up.

Hmm, I'll have to figure out how to weigh them. I'll try to get back to you on that. School starts tomorrow, so things are about to get hectic. Karen and Carrie are our two most skittish birds, so I might have to try and move them to level ground to weigh myself holding them.
Having never seen full grown bantams in person, it's hard to gauge, but I would say my girls are definitely larger than half the size of the others.

If they lay blue or green eggs...

Hmm... I hadn't thought about identifying who was responsible for which egg, but I don't think any of the other girls should be producing green or blue, so I might be able to figure it out by process of elimination. Might have to come up with a creative camera setup to do this. My battery powered wireless cams aren't meant for continuous footage.

Sidenote: I didn't research it beforehand, but I was kinda hoping my cameras could be sound activated so I could figure out EXACTLY how often Aquilo was growing and how early, just in case neighbors complain. ATM, I sleep through it, but I don't know if he'll get louder as he matures.

 

[NatJ]

Hmm, I'll have to figure out how to weigh them. I'll try to get back to you on that. School starts tomorrow, so things are about to get hectic. Karen and Carrie are our two most skittish birds, so I might have to try and move them to level ground to weigh myself holding them.
Having never seen full grown bantams in person, it's hard to gauge, but I would say my girls are definitely larger than half the size of the others.

If you have a scale that will weigh accurately in the right range, a towel or a bucket & lid can be your friend. Wrap the bird in the towel and lay it down on the scale, or put the bird in the bucket and sit the lid gently on top. Either weigh the extra thing first and zero (tare) the scale, or weigh it separately and subtract it from the weight with bird.

Hmm... I hadn't thought about identifying who was responsible for which egg, but I don't think any of the other girls should be producing green or blue, so I might be able to figure it out by process of elimination. Might have to come up with a creative camera setup to do this. My battery powered wireless cams aren't meant for continuous footage.

Process of elimination will usually work nicely.

Since they are just reaching laying age, you might try checking their butts on occasion.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/who-is-laying-and-who-is-not-butt-check.73309/
Check the male first: you know he is not laying. (vent small, puckered, dry-looking, and you can feel the tips of two bones just below the vent, close together.)
Then start checking the females with the biggest reddest combs. A layer's vent will be larger, less puckered, look moist, and those two bone tips will be lower down and further apart. A pullet getting close to laying will show some of the signs of a layer.
You can probably rule out at least half the pullets at this time (definite non-layers), which leaves fewer birds that could have laid the first egg.
Over time, you can probably work out most of the egg colors just from who starts laying around the time you start getting a given color of egg. It can also be fun to know who started laying how soon. (Do the "fast maturing" breeds actually start laying sooner? Often yes, but sometimes no.)

If you happen to catch one in the act of laying, of course that will give you a definitive answer for her.

Once they are laying, you can put just one or two birds in a separate pen until they lay eggs (usually a day or two), and you will know what color eggs they lay. The "separate pen" can be a dog crate, or your little prefab coop, or something of the sort. Just one bird will tell you exactly what egg she laid, but if you know the egg color of one bird you can put her with another one, which lets you check the unknown without having her alone & lonesome all day. Or if you put 2 birds in one pen and you get two brown eggs, of course you know that they both lay brown.

Cameras might work too, but I have no personal experience there.

 

[ATXInstantFlock]

If you have a scale that will weigh accurately in the right range, a towel or a bucket & lid can be your friend.

Great tips, thanks! I thought I was going to have to use the two step process process I used for weighing dogs and babies: (self + item) - self, but the bucket sounds easier.

Since they are just reaching laying age, you might try checking their butts on occasion.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/who-is-laying-and-who-is-not-butt-check.73309/

Thanks! Hadn't come across that either. Will check out the thread.

 

[janiedoe]

Great tips, thanks! I thought I was going to have to use the two step process process I used for weighing dogs and babies: (self + item) - self, but the bucket sounds easier.


Thanks! Hadn't come across that either. Will check out the thread.

I use an extra small wire kennel or a cat carrier to weigh my birds.