How is this possible?? BR x RIR = yellow chicks??

[PurpleCArTires]

Just to check the obvious:
--Are you positive the eggs came from those specific hens?
--Are you positive that rooster is the father?

I've seen some stories with oddly colored chicks where the father was a young cockerel or a bantam rooster, and the person had not realized that bird was mating with those hens.

Lol, i was second guessing that also, but i am 100% sure the RIR is the dad. They are in a seperate pen. 6 Barred Rocks and 3 RIR Hens and 1 RIR roo. Unless a feral or neighbors rooster got them while they free ranged (which i highly doubt), they havent been exposed to any other males. My only other viable Roo is a black EE and last I checked they cant mate very well thru a fence .
I also grabbed the eggs right after each hen laid so i know they came from the BR.

 

[NatJ]

They are in a seperate pen. 6 Barred Rocks and 3 RIR Hens and 1 RIR roo. Unless a feral or neighbors rooster got them while they free ranged (which i highly doubt), they havent been exposed to any other males. My only other viable Roo is a black EE and last I checked they cant mate very well thru a fence .

How long were they separated from the other rooster before you started collecting eggs for hatching? The hens can store sperm for three weeks or so, at least sometimes.

Although I agree he does not seem a very likely choice for producing chicks that look like yours.

6 Barred Rocks and 3 RIR Hens and 1 RIR roo...I also grabbed the eggs right after each hen laid so i know they came from the BR.

If the only other hens are RIR, mixing up the eggs would still not give yellow chicks

I agree, the other available chickens do not offer any obvious explanations.

 

[PurpleCArTires]

How long were they separated from the other rooster before you started collecting eggs for hatching? The hens can store sperm for three weeks or so, at least sometimes.

Although I agree he does not seem a very likely choice for producing chicks that look like yours.


If the only other hens are RIR, mixing up the eggs would still not give yellow chicks

I agree, the other available chickens do not offer any obvious explanations.

They were seperated for months. The EE hasnt been near the BR or RIR. I did hatch a RIR egg and the chick looks as it should, nice deep red and red tip on his beak. These other "BSL" chicks dont look like the RIR at all lol

 

[PurpleCArTires]

Better pic of the coloring difference. I have 1 more yellow not in the photo and 1 more "red" still hatching.

 

[PurpleCArTires]

They finished hatching. 2 "red" and 3 "white".
Ill monitor their development. If the whites or just the reds start developing barring then i know i scored a sex link, even if i was after black lol. Thank you all for the feedback

 

[sassychickens76]

I'm watching!

 

[PurpleCArTires]

So an update... All three "white" are boys and the "red" are girls!! I guess i scored a sex-linked chicken afterall (even tho its not what I was after). Ill do another hatch and see if its the same results. Ill grab some pics too, the white are developing a little black barring (like a backwards Barred Rock). The red looks alot like a RIR.

 

[LaFleche]

When I hatched true RIR from a longtime breeder many years ago, they all hatched yellow and then changed into dark red/mahogany further on.