Daughter needs to know cockerel's breed for Fair. Not what we expected! (?)

[SweetSilver]

This is the bantam cockerel my daughter wants to show at the county fair this August. We ordered our chicks with the poultry leader, and we ordered bantam partridge Wyandottes, and told we were sent 4. Clearly this (late blooming) cockerel has the wrong comb, but that isn't a big deal as my daughter is in primaries, which is non-competetive. We've been starting to question what breed we have. Have to know for Fair!

Please help! All are 16 weeks old.


This is "Ani" (formerly "Annie"). A good picture. Colors are reddish-bay and iridescent blue-green.


This is one of the Weasley Twins, Fred or George, for comparison. Identical in every way except the comb. Now, this one has a better comb for a Wyandotte, but I'm starting to wonder if I don't have Rocks instead. If so, Ani's comb is correct, but this guy's is wrong, or whatever. Something is not right here. I don't think this is the Partridge coloring.

Good comb picture for Fred. Or George. Whatever. I just say "FredandGeorge" for both this one and its twin.


Same cockerel; better picture of his feathering.


And who do we have here? From a McMurray mix. I tried to get a picture of his legs, which can appear quite green. I'm not familiar with all the comb names, but his is bunchy. Not sure identifying this one's breed is necessary because he has become something of a butt since the death of the Head Honcho cockerel, Draco. Too bad, he's gorgeous. I love his eyes and face. Looks so sweet! (Don't be fooled!)


We call him "Patch" or "Mr. Green Jeans". The next picture shows a little of the green in his shank coloring:



I was more than a bit ticked at McMurray's for this order. I don't think we got quite what we ordered, and our poultry leader and I were sent *35* extra chicks! I expected extra, maybe 10 to make 75 all together, but we received 100 and it overwhelmed his brooder set-up on the coldest day in March. Crazy. So, we got a few of the mix he ordered.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I don't know, but that stinkeye in the first photo!

They are very cute!

 

[dretd]

I have read in multiple other threads that its not uncommon for hatchery Wyandottes to have a straight comb so that is my guess. I am not a show person myself so I don't know if this is a disqualification or not. I do know that there is a link between decreased fertility and rose combs so it wouldn't be a reach to think that hatcheries have infused a straight comb breed in to their lines to try to increase fertility.

The other guy looks like an Easter Egger, although they are listed as Americanas (incorrect spelling of Ameraucana for an incorrect/non-match to the official breed standard) by most hatcheries. Too bad he's a jerk becasue he sure is pretty! Maybe its just a teenager phase.

 

[hdowden]

looks like a hatchery wyandotte and the other is a beardless ee

 

[SweetSilver]

@

 

[Pele]

Yup I agree, hatchery Wyandottes, and an EE.

 

[SweetSilver]

I have read in multiple other threads that its not uncommon for hatchery Wyandottes to have a straight comb so that is my guess. I am not a show person myself so I don't know if this is a disqualification or not. I do know that there is a link between decreased fertility and rose combs so it wouldn't be a reach to think that hatcheries have infused a straight comb breed in to their lines to try to increase fertility.

The other guy looks like an Easter Egger, although they are listed as Americanas (incorrect spelling of Ameraucana for an incorrect/non-match to the official breed standard) by most hatcheries. Too bad he's a jerk becasue he sure is pretty! Maybe its just a teenager phase.

There are no disqualifications in 4-H primaries. Yes, for secondaries I believe that either Ani would be disqualified or simply passed over with no further review (same thing in the end). That is why she wants to show him this year. She has one more year before her entries are in competition.

So, these are Wyandottes like I thought, but not the Partridge coloring? That's what I ordered. Are they or aren't they? Anyone know? The website picture only shows the hen.

Yes, I ordered some (ahem!) bantam "Aracaunas" from McMurray, under no illusion that they were that, I just wanted to try for some blue eggs (why do they do that?) So, perhaps this is one of 3 I ordered, but he's the only one. I got 3 of Idon'tknowwhat, Draco was some Spanish breed I think, and I have 2 all-black pullets that look like crows. Not Australorps, wrong shape, I'll find out the egg color in a few weeks. Irritating.

Yes, Patch was a butt last night, things are in a bit of an uproar since Draco died mysteriously. But, funny how a time-out improves things for a short while. Our sweet bantam cochin cockerel was starting to go along with the bullying. Bad influence, this bird. I hope things settle down. I have too many cockerels and the girls don't want to give any away.

 

[dretd]

Glad to hear they don't disqualify the youngsters when they are just learning the ropes!

Again, I am no expert, but a quick glance over to feathersite ( http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGP/Wyand/BRKWyandBty.html#WyBtyChix ) regarding Bantam Wyandottes and the males and females do look different and the males look like that lacing is not apparent because of the coloration (black breast). So am going with you got what you ordered (this time).

 

[SweetSilver]

Thanks! Wow! They really do look different from the hens. Yes, that does look exactly like what we have.

Partridge Wyandotte it is.

That is a really great site you linked to. I'm sure I will be visiting it again.

 

[dretd]

You are welcome. I think feathersite is a wonderful resource. They have other poultry and info as well as chicken breeds: http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKPoultryPage.html#Chickens and then a section of picture heavy chicks by breed thats also really helpful: http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKBabyChicks.html

Another site your daughter might like is one called the chicken calculator:http://kippenjungle.nl/kruising.html . You can do virtual breeding between different colored chickens and it will tell you both the resulting genotype (DNA) and the phenotype (what the offspring will look like). My daughter liked to play with it when she first got in to chickens and it may come in handy if you end up breeding and have mixed chicks to figure out who the daddy is.

One last resource you may find helpful is the Henderson's Breed Chart. It has many of the most common breeds set up in table form with egg/skin/shank color, comb types etc along with comments and helpful links: http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html

I think you may need a heart-to-heart with the kiddos though about the roos. I think I counted 5 and thats a lot of crowing! If you do get rid of them it will help they are purebred (except for the EE roo, but he has the blue-egg thing on his side). You could talk to your 4H mentor about re-homing. If your one roo is a jerk already, I would find him a home ASAP before the girls get too attached. Wouldn't want them to get flogged once his spurs grow in, although that may change their position on wanting to re-home him and make it much easier for you. If you Craigslist do put a photo in there as it seems to help them go to a home where they use them for something other than eating and say he is an Easter Egger not Amer'i'cana--just because the hatcheries false advertise doesn't mean you have to!

Good Luck!