Curious about chicks breed

[Miriahbrown]

I know I can't tell what gender our chicks are yet - but I'm curious if anyone has any thoughts on their breed? We bought 4 at Tractor Supply that were marked as pullet Olive Eggers. I know this doesn't mean much as far as breed or gender since it was TS. We hatched some eggs 3 mo back and they were ALL roos that we had to rehome, so my daughter begged for a few chicks in hopes of some hens. I'm hoping, too

But I'm mostly asking about breed because they look nothing like I predicted. I thought they'd be black and look like marans bc I've read most olive eggers are half copper maran. These look much more like Easter eggers to me - but I'm surprised by the Auburn/reddish feathering they're all developing on their breast area?

Any thoughts? I'm new to OE. These pics are all 1 chick bc they all look pretty similar. This chick is about 3.5 weeks old.

 

[SJsChickies]

I know I can't tell what gender our chicks are yet - but I'm curious if anyone has any thoughts on their breed? We bought 4 at Tractor Supply that were marked as pullet Olive Eggers. I know this doesn't mean much as far as breed or gender since it was TS. We hatched some eggs 3 mo back and they were ALL roos that we had to rehome, so my daughter begged for a few chicks in hopes of some hens. I'm hoping, too

But I'm mostly asking about breed because they look nothing like I predicted. I thought they'd be black and look like marans bc I've read most olive eggers are half copper maran. These look much more like Easter eggers to me - but I'm surprised by the Auburn/reddish feathering they're all developing on their breast area?

Any thoughts? I'm new to OE. These pics are all 1 chick bc they all look pretty similar. This chick is about 3.5 weeks old.

We just got some OEs from Ideal and they say theirs are a mix of an EE and either a Welsummer or a Barnevelder. Maybe yours have Welsummer or Barnevelder in them and that’s what’s bringing the different colors!

 

[Miriahbrown]

We just got some OEs from Ideal and they say theirs are a mix of an EE and either a Welsummer or a Barnevelder. Maybe yours have Welsummer or Barnevelder in them and that’s what’s bringing the different colors!

That would be really great - those are two really pretty breeds when I looked them up. I just assumed they'd be black and I like the idea of pretty colors. Our first set of birds that we got were from Ideal. We had a wonderful experience with them. I only did TS because we weren't planning on chicks and it was a sudden decision. Also, we can only add 4 if we want them to not be crowded with our existing flocks and that small flock fee is no joke when you order from a hatchery

 

[JedJackson]

Probably cream Legbar crossed with Welsumer. Olive eggers can look like pretty much anything since they are mixes and lots of different breeds can be used to create them.

 

[rural mouse]

You're in luck. The reddish breast feathers combined with the speckled/smudged rest of body feathers fall into the Black Breasted Red type category. That means that a cockerel would be getting black breast feathers while a pullet gets the salmon/reddish colored ones. If they're all getting those, they're all pullets.

Olive eggers: a mix of several breeds purposely mixed to get hens that lay dark green/olive toned eggs. Green eggs are blue eggs with the brown "paint sprayer". The darker the brown, the darker the green tone. Breeds frequently used for the dark: Marans, Welsumer, Barnevelder.... blue egg breeds: legbar, EE (so no feather pattern consistency) Ameraucana (note the U: is a feather pattern consistency). Figuring out the specifics for your OE may never be possible, or it may happen as they get older.