Gender and breeds? 10 week old chicks taken home from daughter's classroom...

[soydo]

I only see a boy in the first and last pic- is it of the same bird? The clear shots of others show definite girls.

They are all mixed breeds, including the barred one. As none have beards and seems all have pea combs, my guess is (hatchery quality) Cornish mixed with various breeds.

However if you keep the girls and they give you eggs in green shades they are Easter Eggers and I suppose it was a beardless(happens, but relatively uncommon) EE roo over different breed hens.

 

[marcit]

Thank you! It does look like I posted pics of the same bird in the first and last shots. I may post one more of the 4th chicken, although he/she is the same breed, and looks similar to, the bird in photos 1 and 4. So it's likely another roo of mixed breed.

 

[ChickenPox]

Yes, 1 and 4 are boys, they all look mixed. Where did the eggs come from?

 

[marcit]

Thanks. In an effort to understand more about chickens, what makes you say that 1 and 4 boys? The eggs all came from a local farm, and were hatched in my daughter's classroom. There was no breed specification.

 

[ChickenPox]

The large, red combs and red leakage on the wings lead me to that conclusion. If the pictures were clearer (VERY hard to do with chickens in general, lol) then I could also probably see some saddle feathers coming in.

The barred pullet has a larger comb, but generally the dark barring that she has means female. She should end up a "he," but right now I will still stick to 1 and 4 being your boys, and mixed breed.

 

[donrae]

I'm going against the flow and saying the barred bird is a cockerel, also. A better head shot would help, but at this age pretty much any bird with a red comb is going to be male. Sexing by color of barring only works on pure barred birds, and this bird is a mix.

The red bird looks to be the only pullet, to me. Agree they're all mixed breed birds.

 

[ChickenPox]

I didn't know that the barred coloring doens't work on mixed birds, donrae! Thanks for letting me learn something new today!

 

[donrae]

I didn't know that the barred coloring doens't work on mixed birds, donrae! Thanks for letting me learn something new today!

Not problem. I get enough education here, I like to pass it on!

And if you're interested in a simplified version of why, it's because pure bred male barred birds have two copies of the barring gene. The barring gene makes the white bars on the black bird. Pure bred female barred birds only get a copy from their father, so they only have one copy. This makes smaller white bars, giving the bird an overall darker appearance. So, a male that has only one barred parent gets only one barring gene, and is then colored darker, like a pure bred pullet. It can be very, very difficult to tell a male black sex link from pure barred pullet until he starts growing a comb, cause they're the same overall shade.

 

[ChickenPox]

I usually have a hard time with barred birds anyway.....had a covert Dom roo for MONTHS. LOL! But that is great info. What is the difference between barred and cuckoo? (Not trying to hyjack, but I know there is a difference!)

 

[Chris09]

1- Rooster cross bred
2- Hen production red
3- Rooster (I think) and looks to be a barred holland
4- Rooster cross bred