Hi, I’m Holly! What am I?

[dunnmom]

This little pullet came from barnyard mix hatching eggs. She’s about 19 weeks old. Trying to figure out her breed or her mix, as it looks like she is either laying or will lay soon. She’s always looked like a marans to me, but her hackles have silver in them, and her ears are whitewashed. If you can’t see it, she does have feathers on her legs.

 

[Sneebsey]

I would guess her to be a Brahma mix; the pea comb and feathered legs would support this, however she could also be a Marans/Ameraucana mix of some sort, along with a few other possibilities. Whatever she is, she's very nice looking, and if she is the latter, olive eggs could be on the way.

 

[dunnmom]

I would guess her to be a Brahma mix; the pea comb and feathered legs would support this, however she could also be a Marans/Ameraucana mix of some sort, along with a few other possibilities. Whatever she is, she's very nice looking, and if she is the latter, olive eggs could be on the way.

I thought this whole time she had a single comb. Only because it doesn’t look the same as the combs on her broodmates, which all are pea’d. How are you able to tell her comb type? I obviously missed something.

 

[dunnmom]

It would make sense, though. As most of her broodmates looked to be Brahma mix. The dozen eggs had dark brown, light brown, and blue eggs in it. No rhyme or reason, but they were only $7.

 

[Sneebsey]

It looks pea in the photo; I don't see any little points which would be indicative of a single comb. A single copy of the pea-comb gene does usually result in a different phenotype than seen in a bird pure for pea. Other than the comb, she looks very similar to some RSL x Marans I hatched this year (but apparently don't have any photos of yet). Barnyard mixes are usually my favourites; there's so much variety and so many unknowns when you have a genepool as large as many farm-flocks support.

 

[dunnmom]

Ah! I see it now! Thank you for your help. These were my first pea comb chickens. I didn’t even think to look for the points. Duh!

 

[Gray Farms]

Crossbred

 

[dunnmom]

I also didn’t realize she could be Brahma mix like the others because her body type is different and she’s kind of petite.

 

[AGirlAndHerChickens03]

I would guess her to be a Brahma mix; the pea comb and feathered legs would support this, however she could also be a Marans/Ameraucana mix of some sort, along with a few other possibilities. Whatever she is, she's very nice looking, and if she is the latter, olive eggs could be on the way.

I would support the Brahma theory. Looks like she has feathered feet and her neck design is very similar to that of brahmas.

 

[Sneebsey]

When breeding two birds of different sizes, the offspring can fall anywhere between. With that said, she may not be the brahma mix at all; she has a pea comb and feathered legs, but mum could have donated one of those and dad the other.

The silver birchen appearance does not always denote that she is pure for birchen, or even is birchen at all. A bird which has a copy of extended black and one for wheaten, for example, may well look birchen.