Gender and Breed?

DoctorSuess · Jun 3, 2013

These are 6 chicks from a mixed flock of "Easter Eggers" (Ameracana), Welsummer, and a Buff Orphington my kids and I hatched from a backyard chicken farm we visited in Virginia in April. The gorgeous brood will be 6 weeks old on Wednesday/Thursday this week (they are 5 weeks plus 4 or 5 days old). Forgive the photos. Our coop isn't yet finished (we're redoing our shed), so the chicks sleep in the brooder at night) and the galvanized steel "aviary" is still being welded and cemented before we start our decorating. It's such a fun project!

My question is, what type of chicks do I have and what is the probable sex of each?

PHOTO 1: [CHICKS FROM LEFT] #1 = Chipmunk; #2 = Grace or Victor (if it's a boy or girl; #3 = Nelly; #4 = Speckletail; #5 = Firestar; #6 = Daisy.

PHOTO 2: Same grouping as Photo 1.

PHOTO 3: [FROM LEFT] Firestar, Speckletail, Grace/Victor; Nelly & Daisy side by side on the perch; Chipmunk on the higher perch.

PHOTO 4: Nelly. I believe her coloring and lack of comb development prove she's a female.

PHOTO 5: Chipmunk. He was the darkest of all of them but has suddenly started to get salmon breast feathers. Initially we thought he was a boy...now I'm beginning to suspect otherwise.

PHOTO 6: Daisy. Girl?

PHOTO 7: Daisy (she's quite the poser). I believe because of the Salmon coloring, Daisy's a female Welsummer.

PHOTO 8: Grace/Victor (this is the most loving of all the chicks!)

I'm hoping this is a Female (Pellet) Buff Orphington!

PHOTO 9: Speckletail. Possibly the most aggressive of the group. Loves to run and chest-butt the other chicks.

PHOTO 10: Speckletail.

PHOTO 11: Nelly.

PHOTO 12: Firestar.

PHOTO 13: Daisy (Very vibrant, beautiful colors coming in).

PHOTO 14: Chipmunk.

brandoncakes · Jun 3, 2013

My guesses are that Speckletail, Firestar(both EE), and Victor(Buff) are males, the rest female cant really tell the breed, what kinds of combs do each have?

DoctorSuess · Jun 3, 2013

Hi, thanks for the comments. Based on my limited information gleaned from websites like BYC, I was afraid that the 3 you mentioned were males were indeed roos! As they say, "it ain't over til the rooster crows!" In Montgomery County, MD where we live on an acre of residential property, we can have up to 8 hens but no roos. (Boo hoo!).

I suspect the other 3 (Daisy, Nelly, and Chipmunk) are Welsummer female. What do you think? The flock they all came from includes Buff Orphington, EE, and Welsummer.

DoctorSuess · Jun 3, 2013

BTW, to answer your question "Brandoncakes," Nelly, Daisy and Chipmunk all have single yellow combs that have a single serrated edge. Firestar and Speckletail have a pinkish comb about the width of your pinky finger and about as thick (no waddles yet). Grace (Buff) has a single yellow comb but much taller than N, D, and C's combs, as well as waddles developing on both sides of the beak. (Yikes - sounds like a male too).

Given my predicament, anyone know a nice humane farm for them? I don't want to put them on someone's dinner table!