I have very odd looking Barred Rocks....or do I? Guess who game.

[The Yardbird Life]

4 weeks in possession of what was "supposed to be" 3 Barred Plymouth Rock pullets from, guess who?, TSC.

I also brought home 3 Speckled Sussex and added a 4th the next day because we got a "bad" one with a dead toe and being nOObs, thought we might have to cull her but wanted some numbers symmetry in our new backyard flock. That is working itself out as one of those "Premium Pullets" is ROO! so he's getting the boot.

I have been very busy spending every waking hour over the last month dwelling over the finishing details of our new coop and all the fine details of predator control, etc. so we can just focus on the ladies now that they are in the coop. Today, inspecting these 'Barred Rocks' in the sunlight, I'm thinking we got hosed on our choice chicken!

So, the photos are of 3 different pullets. I'm scratching my head and thinking I received 3 Gold Laced Wyandottes. I had a pair of Silver Laced about 10 years ago and they were nice, beautiful birds but pretty independent and snooty, unlike our Barred Rocks back then. I'm a bit pi**ed-off due to the energy I spent researching exactly what we wanted in our 6 bird flock but at the same time, Gold Laced W's are gorgeous birds and pretty hearty layers so it could be worse.

Those of you that know your chicks....am I on the right track? Gold Laced or something else? If not, WHAT?

I certainly DO know I have Speckled Sussex as seen in pic 4.

 

[ChicksnWine]

i looked at the pictures before i even read your post and immediately thought, oh those are gold laced Wyans. Except the last one... I will wager they had a mixed bunch of chicks in the Bin on accident, or they had not swapped the labels for them yet? on the brightside , they will be very pretty (and hopefully lovely) ladies

 

[The Yardbird Life]

i looked at the pictures before i even read your post and immediately thought, oh those are gold laced Wyans. Except the last one... I will wager they had a mixed bunch of chicks in the Bin on accident......

By " last one", are you referring to #4 photo? She's a Speckled Sussex and like her sibs, fits all the phases of coloration that I've looked at during the specks evolution.

 

[Pukkits]

Oh I'd be frosted too. We don't have a big flock, so we researched to make sure we were getting just what we wanted. I would *not* be happy if the birds I spent so much time (and resource$!) raising turned out to be an entirely different breed. Us accidentally getting straight run and having a bunch of roosters to give away this year was bad enough.
We found Wyandottes much like you, snobby. Ours were very much "mean girls" like the movie, and bullied meeker birds mercilessly. We ended up rehoming our Wyandottes due to it. I hope your girls turn a bit sweeter.

 

[talkinboutchickens]

Yes those are GLW's.

 

[AinaWGSD]

Yeah, definitely wyandottes. My silver laced years ago was a little on the "snooty" side but not a terrible bully. The speckled Sussex we had at the time were not bothered by her in the least. My current wyandotte is sweet as can be, though not at all cuddly, and the bottom of the pecking order.

 

[The Yardbird Life]

If my wife and I hadn't been so over the moon on the beauty of GLW's when they made our 'short list' during our research, I'd probably be a little closer to going postal on this oversight. We specifically cast the GLW's aside, however because we wanted to re-experience the enjoyment of our previous sweet and cuddly Dotty & Spotty 10 years ago. This too, is all after weeks of not being able to find any obtainable Buff Orpingtons and going to Plan B with the more interesting Speckled Sussex. I recall the PBR's were in the same tub as the GLW's and I made a comment to the Chicken Master when he was scooping them up for us asking that he was up to the task and certain to be grabbing the correct variety. The other bins, including our Sussex', had markedly different colorations of different types where they were combined. The PBR and these GLW's were different, but subtly different, and he assured me he was on the right path.....NOT!

First world problems here in Chickenland, I guess!

Even before us locating these birds, I was having some issue with customer service at TSC. I have 2 about 15-20 minutes in either direction from us. I had the MANAGER of the store on the phone politely asking what varieties he had received before I drove down there to find nothing I wanted. His words, clearly from the front counter perch where we always see him now,

"I'm not sure what we got. I'd have to walk back there (50' feet at most) to check"

and proceeded to do and say nothing beyond that! I told him 50' was a heck of a lot closer than 15 miles I would need to travel to look, I prompted. That action speaks volumes to me. If you see this JAKE, you suck and we won't come back to your store!

 

[The Yardbird Life]

Oh I'd be frosted too.....We ended up rehoming our Wyandottes due to it. I hope your girls turn a bit sweeter!

I literally JUST received a THIRTY POUND load of GrubTerra BSF grubs, maybe 15 minutes ago!

We'll be doing our best at cozying up to these ladies...

...if not just making them little piglets!

 

[Pukkits]

after weeks of not being able to find any obtainable Buff Orpingtons

We also wanted Buff Orpingtons. We don't have any nearby TSC, but the two chain feed stores we have were absolutely frazzled with the demand for chicks this year. I started looking early in February. They had their cute little calendar of what breeds they were going to arrive and when. Then I was told that was all now out the window due to massive weather storms between their supplying hatchery and where we were. They weren't going to know what kinds of chicks or even the exact day *until the post office called them to come get boxes of peeps* . I was told chicks would arrive Wednesday through Friday mornings, at one point each week. Staff looked at me like I was weird standing outside the store on chick delivery day by myself at 7:55am. By the next week, there were five of us, the next week, nine. No Buff Orps.
At the very end of February I found some Lavender Orpingtons and decided we didn't care what color the fluff was. My husband managed to find some Chocolate Orpingtons on his way home from work at a store whose shipment arrived later in the day. Unfortunately the Lavender Orpingtons had been mislabeled and were straight run, but I managed to find them homes locally (being a less common color helped).
Getting chicks, especially a certain breed, this year seems to have been a saga for everyone. Our hen yard is full of fluffy butts though, so we aren't unhappy. In a few years when these girls are laying less, we will see if Buff Orps will be easier to find. Hopefully your wyandottes will be sweet, and treats definitely motivate hens to be friendly. Such lucky girls!