Darth Vader is 4 mos old now

[JodyJo]

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Yes...I agree that was the one I was looking at before, not sure on the other one...

 

[mama24]

I am still pretty sure Darth Vader and Pokey the splash pullet are the same breed. Minorca does fit, and they're more common than the blue Andalusian, but do Minorcas come in bbs??? Pokey and DV had the same combs for a long time. They still have the same number and spacing of points. Pokey's earlobes are still small and turquoise, but that's what his were like before they got big and white. Thanks for your thoughts. I wish we knew for sure. They are the family's favorites. They're pretty flighty, but are so sweet and docile once you're holding them.

 

[Pele]

After doing some digging on the subject a bit, I'm mostly convinced that your birds are in fact Andalusians. Minorcas and Andalusians are very closely related (in fact Andalusians used to be called Blue Minorcas in Spain). The primary difference is that Andalusians are bred to be blue (there are a few minor variances in comb and wattle conformation too, but your bird is too young to judge on that).

Now even though only blue is accepted in the Andalusian standard, you NEED black and splashes in your breeding programs to produce blues. Tractor Supply does not have it's own dedicated hatchery producing it's chickens, but rather it gets chicks from local breeders in the area.

I highly suspect that there is a local breeder who is trying to develop a bantam Andalusian strain, and is selling their excess splashes and blacks. Even though those two colors are critical to the breeding program for blues, they are not showable. It would make sense that a breeder would take birds that are not perfectly conformed, and 'cull' them by selling them to the local Tractor supply.

That's my theory anyway. It's the only thing I can think of that can account for both of your pretty birds. Either way, enjoy them!

 

[Chris09]

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I think your Black Rooster and the Splash Hen are to different breeds.

Chris

 

[Chris09]

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You don't need Black or Splash in a breeding programs to produce Blues.

Blue X Blue = Blue, Black, Splash
Blue X Black = Blue, Black
Blue X Splash = Blue, Splash

Tractor Supply does not have it's own dedicated hatchery producing it's chickens, but rather it gets chicks from local breeders in the area.

Most of TSC's birds come from Mt. Healthy Hatchery around here in the North Eastern U.S.

Chris​

 

[mama24]

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I think your Black Rooster and the Splash Hen are to different breeds.

Chris

Why? They are very very much alike, except the roo is black and the pullet is splash. What do you see that makes you think they are two different breed?

 

[mama24]

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Most of TSC's birds come from Mt. Healthy Hatchery around here in the North Eastern U.S.

Chris

I emailed and called Mt Healthy. The woman I spoke to was very helpful. She told me they carry a very limited number of breeds and she didn't know what my black and splash bantams were (looking at the pics I emailed), only that they were obviously not a breed they carried. She also said that TSC does contract out to at least 3 other hatcheries that she knew of, and that many also work with local hatcheries. I believe she said very specifically the only bantams Mt Healthy carries are black and white silkies, golden sebrites, and 1 specific color of OEGB, that's it, plus 1 more I can't remember. There were only 5, and she named them. But I also got a bantam salmon Faverolle, a sultan, 3 very nicely laced silver laced cochins, a golden neck d'Uccle, and a tolbunt Polish mixed pullet at TSC.

I tried talking to the people at TSC, but by May when I thought to ask, they had already thrown away all of their Chick Days paperwork. They quit selling chicks here in April. They had no idea where they'd gotten chicks. Mt Healthy was the only place they could remember.

 

[Chris09]

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I think your Black Rooster and the Splash Hen are to different breeds.

Chris

Why? They are very very much alike, except the roo is black and the pullet is splash. What do you see that makes you think they are two different breed?

Over all Body type, the lack of earlobe size and comb size on the hen. If she was a Minorca, or a Andalusians her earlobes and comb would be much larger.

Chris

 

[mama24]

She's only 4 months old. Hasn't started laying yet. Her comb just started getting red and a little bigger in the last couple of weeks. Up until recently, it was almost non-existent and yellow. Her earlobes look exactly like the black cockerel's did right before they started growing.

 

[NanaLantana]

My first thought is Black Minorca. He's so handsome!