Help identifying my hens?

[ForeverWhy]

We were initially told that we picked
3 black sexlinks
2 orpingtons
5 americaunas

Now I'm not sure we were told the whole truth. A couple of the "americaunas" started laying last week and they're white eggs. Does it take time for egg pigment to happen...kind of like the small eggs they lay initially eventually get bigger?

I've been running a blog for friends and family...there are pics of them at 3 different stages of growth here:

http://foreverwhy.wordpress.com/optimistic-gardener/chicken-nuggets/

(is it okay that I do that?)

Any help in identifying them would be greatly appreciated...not that it'll change how excited my kidlets are at raising chickens...but I'm curious by nature.

 

[Pele]

Alright, here is what I think your girls are:

Sass - Easter Egger, and the only bird that might give you blue/green eggs
Hope - Hard to tell from pic, but Jersey Giant or Australorp
Goldie - Production Red
Faith - Black Sex-Link

your 5 'Ameraucanas' are actually Brown Leghorns, that's why you're getting white eggs. They do look very much like EE chicks as babies, but lack the muffs and should have been easily identafiable by a hatchery employee.

I would not recommend buying from that hatchery again if they misinformed you.

Hope that helps clarify things!

 

[donrae]

easter egger, red sex-link, black sex-link, australorp, and the look-alikes are brown leghorns. You won't get green eggs from them, but you'll get a TON of white eggs.

 

[Lothiriel]

Sass -- EE
Goldie -- Red Sexlink
Faith -- Black Sexlink
Hope -- Black Sexlink -- sorry folks, not an Australorp. There is gold on her face and ever so slightly on her chest. BSL can have any amout of gold, from very little like Hope, to almost all gold.
Charity was a BSL as well. Sorry you lost her.

Temperance -- Brown Leghorn
Nellie -- Brown Leghorn
Harmony -- Brown Leghorn
Yellow band -- Brown Leghorn
Orange Band -- Brown Leghorn

 

[Fred's Hens]

I assume you got these chicks from a private party?

 

[ForeverWhy]

Thanks a bunch!

We got them from the local feed store...don't know where they get them. Apparently we lucked out that all of them were girls.

I'm a bit disappointed that the 5 are leghorns.

But really not all the surprised...my luck has never been all that great. Leghorns were the breed I wanted to avoid. Oh well...they are supposed to be great layers...and that's one of the reasons we got chickens. One of my daughters does a LOT better on "farm fresh" eggs...the store ones I'm sure has all kinds of chemical additives.

Charity was our favorite...very friendly...loved to fall asleep in our hands as a chick...and would literally beg to get her belly rubbed (though I suppose "belly" isn't the right word with chickens). It was hard loosing her.

Sass and Goldie are my "girls"...very friendly and like to sit and gossip with me. Listen to me...bragging on a chicken!

So they're not Orpingtons? Kind of suspected that about Sass...she has a "fuzzy face"...fluffy feathers sticking out below her ears. I couldn't find that in any orpington pictures I looked at.

Faith is kind of unique...it's hard to see in the pictures...but her feathers almost has an emerald shine in the sun. Does that make a difference?

I realized that the pictures I have up are about 3-4 weeks old. Would it help if I got more recent photos?

I guess the moral to this story...do better research and don't rely on the feed store! We're planning in about 3-4 years to let one of them hatch a batch of "replacement" chicks (everything I've read say chickens usually only live about 5 years...or at least give eggs that long). I don't plan on culling the old timers or anything like that...they'll live long happy lives...but I want to have good egg production with my large family. So next time...I go to a good breeder, right?

 

[Lothiriel]

Quote:
Just curious as to why you wanted to avoid Leghorns?

Sass and Goldie are my "girls"...very friendly and like to sit and gossip with me. Listen to me...bragging on a chicken!

So they're not Orpingtons? Kind of suspected that about Sass...she has a "fuzzy face"...fluffy feathers sticking out below her ears. I couldn't find that in any orpington pictures I looked at.

Nope, definitely not Orpingtons!

Faith is kind of unique...it's hard to see in the pictures...but her feathers almost has an emerald shine in the sun. Does that make a difference?

Absolutely not. All the breeds I've had that have black feathers (BA, EEs, Sexlinks) have had the green/blue/purple shine. So it doesn't make a difference.

I realized that the pictures I have up are about 3-4 weeks old. Would it help if I got more recent photos?

I think the ones you have are just fine. Unless it would be another one of Temperance... Her feathers look a little odd to me...

I guess the moral to this story...do better research and don't rely on the feed store! We're planning in about 3-4 years to let one of them hatch a batch of "replacement" chicks (everything I've read say chickens usually only live about 5 years...or at least give eggs that long). I don't plan on culling the old timers or anything like that...they'll live long happy lives...but I want to have good egg production with my large family.

Chickens can live waaay longer than 5 years! There are some members on here with birds up to 17 at least. However, 5 is about the age the hens either stop altogether producing eggs or drastically slow down. My 6 year old Black Australorp will lay an egg maybe once every 4-5 months now.

So next time...I go to a good breeder, right?

Either that or order from a hatchery yourself, instead of through the feed store. Most hatcheries that I know of require a minimum of 25 chicks per order.​

 

[ForeverWhy]

Thanks

I have 6 young children and wanted breeds that would be good and calm. Leghorns are supposed to be skittish. Plus I wanted fun colored eggs...instead of just white. A wee bit of silliness on my part. It is what it is though...we all love them nonetheless and will benefit from the white eggs just as much as any other egg we might get.

Thank you everyone! It's nice to know what breeds they are...at least for me.

Now I just need to update my blog...and I'll see about getting more recent photos. I don't think Tempie is too different from the other 4...but one of the chicks had more of a speckled face instead of that dark line across the cheek area. Maybe she's that one? She's also the one that was injured in a dog attack. Could that effect it? (I'm revealing my ignorance here...) I'll see if I can figure out how to add photos here...if not I'll put them up on my blog.

Thanks again...I really appreciate it!

Oh and thanks for clarifying the age thing for me. When we started this our main goal was to have good egg layers...but I let my hubby know that once we got them they'd be pets and in no way could I ever ever butcher when they're "past their prime". My girls will grow old and happy in their "Nugget Manor"...however long that is. Hopefully sometime within the next 5 years we can move to a bigger lot...so I can have an old ladies area and still have fairly young stock for good eggs. That's the goal anyways.

 

[Lothiriel]

If Temperance survived a dog attack (yay for her!!) then yes, I think that could explain why. Because nothing else about her makes me think anything other than pullet.