Cinnamon queen cockerel or pullet?

[jabou29]

Hi, I just got chicks and got me a cinnamon queen but the breeder was unsure whether it’s a pullet or a cockerel due to it growing it’s tail feathers super fast. It didn’t have stripes on its back but now it has developed stripes. I believe it might be a pullet but it’s probably too soon to tell. I thought they where sex linked at birth though.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I agree with the post above. You can't breed for CQ's like normal breeds.

A CQ is just another flavor variety of a red sex link...but ONLY for the first generation. It *should* be a red based rooster over a silver (white looking) hen. The first generation offspring will produce red fawn down female chicks while the mother's silver gene follows the boys and produces yellow down male chicks who become white males with red on shoulders/wings.

She may be breeding a CQ to a CQ, but you won't be able to sex them at all. They will be 50% yellow down male/female or 50% red down male/female.

And since they were a hybrid to begin with, a hybrid to a hybrid produces simply a barnyard mix hybrid.

That doesn't mean these aren't fun chickens and won't lay eggs. I like barnyard mixes for hybrid vigor.

But it does mean that coloring on the chick is meaningless as is wing/tail feather growth (that too is another sexing trick to breed a fast feathered line to a slow feathered line, which you don't have). You will have to wait to see if it develops a large red comber faster than the others.

Sorry.
LofMc

 

[Skyle]

Will do, and yeah she is specifically breeding for CQ’s but maybe the hen who laid its egg could be an RSL but all her hens looks lightish red like a CQ and not like a RSL. So I’ll see how it turns out.

CQs don't breed true. Using a CQ rooster over CQ hens isn't going to produce CQs. They are a mix and, unless you create that exactly mix (breeding specifically for CQ), they won't be sexable at hatch.

 

[Painted Calls]

Will do, and yeah she is specifically breeding for CQ’s but maybe the hen who laid its egg could be an RSL but all her hens looks lightish red like a CQ and not like a RSL. So I’ll see how it turns out.

You can't make CQ's out of CQ's. I would almost bet they are just mixed breeds.

 

[Soonermagic254]

I agree with the post above. You can't breed for CQ's like normal breeds.

A CQ is just another flavor variety of a red sex link...but ONLY for the first generation. It *should* be a red based rooster over a silver (white looking) hen. The first generation offspring will produce red fawn down female chicks while the mother's silver gene follows the boys and produces yellow down male chicks who become white males with red on shoulders/wings.

She may be breeding a CQ to a CQ, but you won't be able to sex them at all. They will be 50% yellow down male/female or 50% red down male/female.

And since they were a hybrid to begin with, a hybrid to a hybrid produces simply a barnyard mix hybrid.

That doesn't mean these aren't fun chickens and won't lay eggs. I like barnyard mixes for hybrid vigor.

But it does mean that coloring on the chick is meaningless as is wing/tail feather growth (that too is another sexing trick to breed a fast feathered line to a slow feathered line, which you don't have). You will have to wait to see if it develops a large red comber faster than the others.

Sorry.
LofMc

This was the politest way I’ve ever heard someone tell somebody they have a mutt When they thought they had something special. Well done LOL

 

[jabou29]

If it was a Cinnamon Queen (produced by a hatchery), we could look at the color and tell you what sex it is. Cinnamon Queens are on the short list of chickens that are special that way.

So whether it is a "real" Cinnamon Queen or not makes a big difference in whether we can tell the gender this early.

Since it is actually a mixed breed chick, that can NOT be sexed by color, we are not able to tell you what gender it is until it gets a bit older.

Ok, that’s fine. I’ll post a photo of it in a couple of weeks.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

If it’s a CQ or not I really don’t care. I just wanted a layer and that was it. I don’t get what’s the huge issue if it’s a purebred or not? My question in the beginning was if y’all could give me advice if it was a pullet or cockerel. It wasn’t so everyone could go off on if it was a purebred or not as if that was my initial question. I was basing off of what the breeder said.

I'm sorry this was frustrating for you. It is annoying when you ask a simple question and it stirs up a whirlwind of responses going off on something you didn't actually care about.

The reason this particular "is it a girl or boy" got such a reaction is because with a true CQ you WOULD know by the chick down. That's the whole point of the CQ hybrid. There is NO guessing because the girls are red fawn down and the boys yellow.

Unscrupulous and ill educated breeders will play on the trustworthiness of selling sexed chicks by CQs to unsuspecting public. Which is why you got the responses you got.

I am giving the breeder a generous pass on their scruples, that they simply don't know.

But you SHOULD be able to purchase a CQ female chick by the down. That's why it's so important to understand the breed or hybrid you are dealing with. Because certain expectations come with certain breeds and sexable hybrids.

Again, I'm so sorry you didn't get the answer you were looking for but a less than desired education on CQs.

The breeder is actually who should be on the forum and have some questions answered so they are no longer passing along misinformation.

I'll keep my fingers crossed that you have some girls. Watch the combs. With mixes of mixes I find the combs the best indicator.

LofMc

 

[Painted Calls]

It's likely a mixed breed unless she is breeding specifically for CQs. The red with white towards the back sounds like a RSL. Which is a mixed breed itself.

Post pics at 6 weeks, showing comb and wattles.

 

[jabou29]

It's likely a mixed breed unless she is breeding specifically for CQs. The red with white towards the back sounds like a RSL. Which is a mixed breed itself.

Post pics at 6 weeks, showing comb and wattles

Will do, and yeah she is specifically breeding for CQ’s but maybe the hen who laid its egg could be an RSL but all her hens looks lightish red like a CQ and not like a RSL. So I’ll see how it turns out.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I didn’t believe I had something special. I was just basing it off what the breeder told me. smh.

And the inexperienced breeder probably thought they were breeding "CQ's."

Although admittedly there are those who are purposely misconstruing.

However, generally, in backyard breeding, a simple case of breeder ignorance as the feed stores label them Cinnamon Queens as if that were a breed.

Don't get me started on Easter Eggers and the confusion THAT created by feed stores dubbing them Americanas. LOL.

Anywho...hopefully you've got some decent layers, and if that's your goal, no harm done (unless they are all roosters!)... just a learning experience.

LofMc