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[MIChickandGuinea]

I bought these two Isa Browns 13 weeks ago as hatchlings, from a group marked pullets only. The one on the right has suddenly started developing such fancy, shiny feathers on head and neck, and I'm wondering if maybe I have an accidental rooster on my hands. The comb and wattle are also more developed. I know that Isa Brown roosters are supposed to be white with only a little brown, and also this chicken's behavior is so quiet and shy, I don't see the aggression that people sometimes talk about with young roosters. But the plumage is SO different between these two birds that I'm just wondering ... Any insight here?

 

[debid]

I bought these two Isa Browns 13 weeks ago as hatchlings, from a group marked pullets only. The one on the right has suddenly started developing such fancy, shiny feathers on head and neck, and I'm wondering if maybe I have an accidental rooster on my hands. The comb and wattle are also more developed. I know that Isa Brown roosters are supposed to be white with only a little brown, and also this chicken's behavior is so quiet and shy, I don't see the aggression that people sometimes talk about with young roosters. But the plumage is SO different between these two birds that I'm just wondering ... Any insight here?View attachment 1058005

They're both pullets if they came from a hatchery. Males are almost entirely white.

I suspect that they aren't both ISAs (if either one is). Anyone can breed sexlinks but ISAs come from a licensed recipe and should be more consistent in size/appearance.

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

They're both pullets if they came from a hatchery. Males are almost entirely white.

Oh, that's reassuring. I really wanted to get the hang of keeping chickens with just some friendly hens before we embark on the adventure of roosters, who I understand can be a handful sometimes! Thank you for your reply.

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

They're both pullets if they came from a hatchery. Males are almost entirely white.

I suspect that they aren't both ISAs (if either one is). Anyone can breed sexlinks but ISAs come from a licensed recipe and should be more consistent in size/appearance.

Oh ... hmmm ... They did come from a local hatchery, but were sold through a farm store. Perhaps the store stirred up some chickens and had them labeled wrong?

 

[debid]

Oh ... hmmm ... They did come from a local hatchery, but were sold through a farm store. Perhaps the store stirred up some chickens and had them labeled wrong?

They're all color-coded the same way so they're still pullets but legitimate ISAs are pretty uncommon (while the practice of illegal use of a licensed name unfortunately isn't).

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

They're all color-coded the same way so they're still pullets but legitimate ISAs are pretty uncommon (while the practice of illegal use of a licensed name unfortunately isn't).

You said they're all color-coded the same way. Even if we don't know what kind of chickens these actually are, since maybe not the ISA Browns that they were labeled as? I am not doubting you - just trying to learn. I don't know which kinds of chickens can be sexed on sight compared to those you just have to wait and listen for a crow. Like the various easter eggers and our white leghorns and black marans - no way to tell by looking?

 

[debid]

You said they're all color-coded the same way. Even if we don't know what kind of chickens these actually are, since maybe not the ISA Browns that they were labeled as? I am not doubting you - just trying to learn. I don't know which kinds of chickens can be sexed on sight compared to those you just have to wait and listen for a crow. Like the various easter eggers and our white leghorns and black marans - no way to tell by looking?

If you put a red rooster, pure for gold, with a hen pure for silver, you get red dip-dyed looking pullets and white cockerels. It's the interaction of the colors that does it. It matters not at all for the color coding which line or breed they are, whether they are huge or petite, etc. But, it matters a great deal to the folks who license the brand names and have put decades of work into production and feed efficiency. So, anyone with a Rhode Island red rooster and a Rhode Island white hen can make sexlinks but they won't be ISAs any more than the generic tissues at your local grocery are Kleenex.

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

If you put a red rooster, pure for gold, with a hen pure for silver, you get red dip-dyed looking pullets and white cockerels. It's the interaction of the colors that does it. It matters not at all for the color coding which line or breed they are, whether they are huge or petite, etc. But, it matters a great deal to the folks who license the brand names and have put decades of work into production and feed efficiency. So, anyone with a Rhode Island red rooster and a Rhode Island white hen can make sexlinks but they won't be ISAs any more than the generic tissues at your local grocery are Kleenex.

Are all chickens colored like these ones in my photo some kind of sexlink? (I hope you don't mind all my questions. I'm learning! )

 

[nancjl]

If anyone has questions, I'd be more than happy to answer.

I also had purchased chicks at a store. They were in an orphington bin. I was adding some new breeds. So I got 2 buffs and 2 blacks. Well after a week I thought they may be barred rocks. But now I'm not so sure. The legs aren't yellow and the markings aren't barred. Any ideas?

 

[debid]

Are all chickens colored like these ones in my photo some kind of sexlink? (I hope you don't mind all my questions. I'm learning! )

If they came from a hatchery, yes. They always breed sexlinks correctly, hatcheries don't make mistakes with that. Plus, there would be no reason for them to cross those colors otherwise.

The confusion comes when a farmer breeds their sexlinks to each other and then you get males and females marked like that as well as males and females that are mostly white. It only works when you cross pure colors and only if you get the cross correct (you can't, for example, use a silver male with red female or use a female that's genetically white rather than silver).