For Those Who Have Isa Browns

[Featherland]

I have some Isa Browns from Townline Hatchery. I thought they were all pullets and I thought they were sex links in which the females were brown and the males white but now I am having doubts. I have a couple that are feathering in slower and their feathers are a deep red and white. Their combs are slightly bigger also. They are 4 1/2 weeks old. So, are there just this big of differences in color and feathering rates or are there a couple cockerels here? Comments are appreciated.
Chick #1

Chick #1

Chick #2

Chick #2

Chick #3

Chick #3

Chick #4

Chick #4

Side by side comparisons

 

[Fred's Hens]

I have raised them for many, many years. Those are all pullets. The cockerels look like this little feller who got stuck in the box. Pretty obvious.

 

[dezziy]

Omg i have to say they are soooo cute! i love that last picture of them all looking out of the cage!!!!

 

[Pele]

All undeniably girls.

 

[Featherland]

I have raised them for many, many years. Those are all pullets. The cockerels look like this little feller who got stuck in the box. Pretty obvious.

Yours is what I would expect. Well that is a relief that I wasn't accidently given straight run. Did you find such a color variation and a difference in feathering rates? The curious thing is the darker feathered ones are also the slowest to feather.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Yes, the genetics of this specialized hybrids means that some will be darker, some will be lighter and have more white. Some don't even look precisely the same as a bird next to them. Since the ISA Brown is a commercial, 4-way cross, this is to be expected. Of course, hatcheries sometimes make shipping/packing errors too. Sometimes, one gets a cockerel even when the chicks are sex links. Sometimes another kind of bird slips through too. Nothing is ever perfect, of course.

 

[Chickmagnet36]

They look like sex-link pullets, I have on that is whiter than the rest too (front / right), see pic below at 4.5 weeks of age. Mine have darkened up in the past few weeks, they are 8 weeks now, but one is still whiter than the rest.

 

[wcook2012]

Just picked up two supposedly 8 week old isa browns but found they are 1/3 the size of my 8 week old wyondettes as well the still have some fuzz on the rear end , are they possibly younger or is it just the breed?

 

[Fred's Hens]

They are not as old as stated. The ISA Brown will be feathered out at 6 weeks. They are not a breed at all, they are a commercial 4 way mix, a hybrid.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Just picked up two supposedly 8 week old isa browns but found they are 1/3 the size of my 8 week old wyondettes as well the still have some fuzz on the rear end , are they possibly younger or is it just the breed?

As Fred said they are either much younger than you believe OR they could be badly undernourished. Sometimes when chicks are not fed properly they can be greatly slowed in their development.

All of the birds shown in the OP's initial post are most definitely pullets. As Fred shows in his picture the boys look very different once they begin to feather in.