Evaluating My Blue Australorp Cockerels

[Chicken poppy]

Dang I want one.

Same! to far though haha

 

[3KillerBs]

Every chickens different of course, but they sound like their already great boys. By that age, you should notice if theres bad behavior, (or atleast i did) so their probably very sweet

It's hard to distinguish them in the group right now. I call the dozen or so blue chicks "The Blue Blob" because they're always together and hard to tell apart.

Dang I want one.

Same! to far though haha

They're from Welp. I loved my first 2 hens so much I had to get more chicks and some boys to breed them.

The only problem is that 25 chick minimum.

 

[Chicken poppy]

It's hard to distinguish them in the group right now. I call the dozen or so blue chicks "The Blue Blob" because they're always together and hard to tell apart.





They're from Welp. I loved my first 2 hens so much I had to get more chicks and some boys to breed them.

The only problem is that 25 chick minimum.

Dang! We have around a 10 chicken minimum in our state and at first we were like “oh, its fine, we just plan on getting a few.” Now were up to seven and looking at more. So were looking at more land and to upgrade!

 

[Fawnpuppet]

How do you know if they are splash or not? I'm curious for my own experiment.

It depends on what you want in your flock. Do you want early maturity? Egg laying capability? Temperament? I'd recommend looking up standards of the blue Australorp breed and go from there.

 

[kurby22]

They are gorgeous!! I like all of them…they’re huge for 10 weeks! I don’t see any saddle feathers yet and can’t really tell on the hackles, how are you sure they’re all roos already? Just curious I’m still learning the different breeds telltale signs. Haven’t had Australorps…they are so pretty though!!

 

[3KillerBs]

How do you know if they are splash or not? I'm curious for my own experiment.

It depends on what you want in your flock. Do you want early maturity? Egg laying capability? Temperament? I'd recommend looking up standards of the blue Australorp breed and go from there.

I'm not particularly sure about splash because I haven't had a confirmed splash bird, but the two noted as possible splash have a few dark feathers here and there on the lighter ground -- which is different from the dark wash across the wings on the boys where that's noted.

I want temperament first -- and I'll eat my way through as many boys as I need to in order to get it. But vigorous health and reasonably early maturity are high on the list. As noted in the first post, I looked up the Australian standard since it's on the internet.

The thing with the standard is that, since I don't show or have any experience with showing, I don't know what the words in the standards *mean* -- a lot of the characteristics are supposed to be "medium". What is "medium"?

Likewise, what is "long" and "broad" in re: the back?

Comparative illustrations of poor specimens vs. good specimens would be useful for newbies but the SOP doesn't include that.

I don’t see any saddle feathers yet and can’t really tell on the hackles, how are you sure they’re all roos already?

I had to part their feathers to see the pointy saddle feathers emerging. I didn't think to get a photo of it.

I banded them as likely boys at 3 weeks because their combs were quite prominent at that age.

The pullets look like this right now:

 

[3KillerBs]

No doubt that these were boys with those combs at 3 weeks.

 

[kurby22]

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No doubt that these were boys with those combs at 3 weeks.

Ahhh, yes. Okay, that definitely would be the best indication! Well it's sure nice they cooperated and made it easy for you to tell. The pullets definitely look different Thanks! All of your boys are beautiful, I think the solid colors are better for showing, but if it's just for breeding, I would go with temperament. It would be tough for me to give up any of them!

 

[3KillerBs]

Ahhh, yes. Okay, that definitely would be the best indication! Well it's sure nice they cooperated and made it easy for you to tell. The pullets definitely look different Thanks! All of your boys are beautiful, I think the solid colors are better for showing, but if it's just for breeding, I would go with temperament. It would be tough for me to give up any of them!

I have very deliberately bought more birds than I need with the specific intent of selling. I keep that in mind from the moment I place the order.

 

[Chicken poppy]

I have very deliberately bought more birds than I need with the specific intent of selling. I keep that in mind from the moment I place the order.

We always end up getting more then planned, which stinks when 4/6 of your chickens are cockerels!