Identifying black australorp versus blk Jersey Giant

[JDH]

Hi,
I'm hoping someone can help me/us. Four of us got together and ordered 25 chicks from McMurray hatchery of various breeds. Two of us ordered black australorps and 1 ordered black jersey Giants. One ordered 3 barred cochin bantams, 1 ordered a birchen cochin bantam and 1 ordered a black frizzle. All of these chicks are black. :| So the box of chicks came and after sorting out what we all could recognize , we are left with the black chicks. The barred cochins we identified but for the life of us, we cannot figure out which is the jerseys, which are the australorps and which is the birchen BECAUSE McMurray also sent us 3 extra chicks(total of 28) of which 1 is a black bantam and 1 is a black big chick. Everyone follow all of this?

So, us 4 women have had bird swapping and we are still no closer to figuring out which are the giants, the australorps and the sole birchen. Photos on various websites are not helpful as all chicks look like each other's breeds and vice versa. Help!

 

[MayberrySaint]

Wow...that is going to be tough. You may have to wait until they get mature.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Giants normally have more black on their legs than Ausralorps do. As for the others, here are a couple of links. Feathersite is really good for identifying chicks.

Chick page, with links to the individual breed pages. The chick pictures are at the bottom of the individual breed pages, the adult pictures are at the top of the pages.
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKBabyChicks.html

Individual breed pages, listed alphabetically.
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKPoultryPage.html#Chickens

Main poultry page.
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKPoultryPage.html

If you've already been to Feathersite and it hasn't helped, then you may indeed have to wait until they are older. What a pain!

 

[Menagerie]

Sorry, that's a tough one. My Jersey chicks look like australorp pics I have seen so I am not sure either. Eine, meanie, minie, mo.

 

[PurpleChicken]

My Jersey Giant is much bigger than my Australorps and has been since 3
weeks. The Australorps have more brown on their faces too.

 

[JDH]

I have read where the Giants have buff on them and the australorps have white on them so we split the chicks that way but who knows anymore. The photos of what I thought were australorps look exactly like "blue" giants on feathersite but they are the same size as my Ameracauna chick. Had I known what I was getting into (virgin chicken owner here) I might of opted for the kinds that come in bright colors and are made of marshmellow.

PurpleChicken- when did the australorps get brown on their faces? So far, no brown on any faces other than the birds that are supposed to be brown.

 

[PurpleChicken]

Penguin The Australorp

Scarpiello The Australorp

Nappy The Jersey Giant

The Australorp did have white on him, hence the name Penguin. The brown
seemed to develop as the white fluff turned to feathers. Great birds. I have
4 Black Australorps and 1 Giant. The Giant is a bit skittish but nice. BIG BIRD!!!
She'd make a nice roaster.

Don't worry about not having other colored birds. I think everyone wishes for
breeds they don't have. I bought a variety pack and have TOO MANY.

 

[PurpleChicken]

Here they are at 1 week. The filenames are wrong. I switched them(I think).
The first pic must be Penguin.

 

[ella]

Giants are supposed to have yellow on the soles of their feet, while Australorps are supposed to have pink soles, but that's not always 100% especially with hatchery chicks.

 

[livestock101]

Black giants have solid dark brown eyes, Australorps have yellow around the pupil.