I thought she was a Royal Purple...

[Lothiriel]

This is Gretel. I was pretty positive she's a Royal Purple, but seeing some other pictures I'm not so sure now.
I don't have a picture of before she got feathers in... But she looked a lot like this one (found it here on BYC )


4 weeks...


6 weeks...


I've read that Chocolates and Browns are very similar to RP, but never found a very good explanation of the difference.

Any opinions? (She is a girl, btw. She makes the buck-wheat call regular. )

 

[jcatblum]

With the brown tint on the wings as a younger keet I am thinking bronze. My chocolate are lighter than the purple & bronze. Not sure I have a good side by side pic, but peeps might.

 

[PeepsCA]

Gretel is a Chocolate (she looks a little diluted, but not what I'd call a Blonde). She'd be feathering in with a much darker brown color at both 4 and 6 wks of age if she was a Royal Purple.

Royal Purple and Chocolates are both partially pearled varieties, and some Chocolates (in the darker dilutions) can look very similar to Royal Purples as keets and as they feather in... they both have the same markings with sometimes only a slight shade difference. Chocolates keep the brown shade tho, Royal Purples lose all traces of the dark brown, lose most of their pearling and grow in dark grey/charcoal feathers once they molt again at about 10-12 weeks of age. When mature they only have pearls in the flank area and barred wings.

Browns are a fully pearled variety like the Pearl Greys, and sometimes their colors are a little hard to differentiate between each other as well, unless you can compare them side by side (these 2 colors both have the same fully pearled markings with sometimes only a slight shade difference too... and they can also look very similar to the partially pearled markings if you are not used to seeing the difference). The Browns retain the brown shade, and the Pearl Greys lose all traces of brown and grow in dark grey/charcoal feathers, but both are fully pearled all over except the neck area.

Hope that helps clarify... re-readin it I kinda got myself a little confused, lol.

LOL that's my keet in the first pic (and my thumb ring, lol), that bird matured as a Bronze.

ETA:
Most Bronzes don't show much Bronze tinting until they are around 6 months old, until then most are dark like Royal Purples and can pass as Royal Purples.

 

[Lothiriel]

Oh that's great! Thank you for the explanations, Peeps. It was really helpful, and only very slightly confusing. But I got the stuff I needed out of it.

 

[Lothiriel]

Oh... While we're at it.... This is a Buff Dundotte, right?

6 weeks....





4 weeks....



I don't have a full body shot. "Hector" looked like this as a baby... (Not my pic )

 

[PeepsCA]

Looks like a Buff Dundotte to me

Hector huh? No buck-wheating from that keet yet? Cuz I'm guessing by the dark center head stripe that it might be a Hen... it looks a little too light to be a Brown male, but if it is a male "he" may just be very diluted.

 

[Lothiriel]

Oh yay! I was really hoping for a Buff Dundotte. It's the only one out of the 30 we ordered!!

(We only kept 8 -- joint order with a few friends.)

I really have no idea yet if he really is a Hector, or if he's a Helen.

I have several buck-wheating but only 2 I have seen doing it for sure -- Gretel and one of my whites (Buttons). I know there are more though.

 

[PeepsCA]

Since they are 6 wks+ old, if you separate them one at a time (out of sight of the others, but within earshot), the Hens will usually start buck-wheating. Sometimes the Hens hold out 'til 8-10 wks old to buckwheat tho. (And some even longer!).