Is anyone able to tell what this one is yet?*UPDATED*4 wk old pics add

[Annie84]

Quote:
This might sound stupid, but I have no idea what that means, could you please explain? I am new to chickens.

Not a stupid question at all!

Black Sexlink chicks can be sexed by color at hatch and through maturity by color. At hatch, males will be black with a white spot on the top of their heads, and females will be black with black heads. As they mature, males will be barred (just like a Barred Rock), and females will be black with red leakage on their breasts and throats. Black Sexlinks are usually a Rhode Island Red/Barred Rock cross, but a Brown Leghorn will work as the rooster too. The pluses of Black Sexlinks is that you can sex them by color at any age, and they have hybrid vigour, which makes for a hardier bird.

So, if I keep him and let him breed with my barred rocks, it will be easier to sex the chicks. Will this affect their offspring's laying or meat production at all? We picked Barred Rocks, because they are supposed to be a good multi-purpose bird (pet, egg, meat) and are supposed to be hardy to the cold weather. How would the leghorn affect this? I know leghorns are great layers, but I also know they are not the best when it comes to being a meat bird, and I've also read that they really aren't the friendliest. I do also have 3 male barred rocks. I do also know that I don't want to have too many roos, because they will fight.

 

[Cowgirl71]

Quote:
The hybrid chicks will be very easy to sex by color. The pullets will very good layers of light brown eggs. The hybrids won't be quite as hardy in the winter, due to the larger comb and smaller body from the Leghorn. (The larger comb thing assumes that you have the more common Single Comb Brown Leghorn. If you have a Rose Comb Brown Leghorn (which McMurray also sells), then the hybrids would do very well in the winter, because rose comb is dominant.) The hybrid males won't be as good for meat. Leghorns usually don't have very friendly temperaments (though they do do very well in a free range environment, because their skittishness makes them more alert to predators). I've found that it really is best to have just one rooster per flock, the flock is just calmer that way.

Barred Rocks are a great choice for an all-around farm bird. If I could only have one breed, they'd be it! Great layers of big brown eggs, good meat birds, friendly, pretty, great predator protection coloration, and can be sexed young by color. What more could you ask for?

You should be able to sell your Brown Leghorn pretty easily, if you should decide to sell him. A lot of people just want a pretty rooster strutting around the yard, taking care of the hens. Brown Leghorn roosters are some of the prettiest roosters there are!

 

[smarsh]

i would bet brown leghorn. it already shows some tail.

 

[Palmetto Plucker]

First photo chick on far right hatched 10th March 2011 bought from TSC bantam looked like a "chipmunk"
Second photo to show iridescent feathers
Third photo... what as shocking change, he was fun to watch the feathers change colors..I am still trying to find out what he is...maybe the mottled silver leghorn that is new for 2011??

Any guesses to what he is?

 

[Annie84]

I was looking through the "rare breeds" on McMurray's website, and my chick looks the most like the Silver Leghorn, the Phoenix, and the "Modern BB Red Games" that they have. I'm guessing most likely the Leghorn, though, as that seems to be the general opinion, but do you think that it may be one of the other two breeds? Also, it seems to be growing in size slower than the BR, but feathering up quicker (if that makes sense?) I took a few new photos yesterday:

 

[mother o' chicks72]

the fact that it's growing slower but feathering faster makes me think it's a bantam. are there bantam leghorns?

 

[Annie84]

Wow, thanks, I never even thought Bantam. This was my "free exotic chick" from McMurray, so I'm just playing the let's find out what it is game, lol. For now, we just call it the "Mystery Chick"

 

[schellie69]

mother o' chicks72 :

the fact that it's growing slower but feathering faster makes me think it's a bantam. are there bantam leghorns?

Depends on the bantam I have 3 cochins bantams and they are slow to feather in. I don't think its a bantam,​

 

[mother o' chicks72]

Quote:
Depends on the bantam I have 3 cochins bantams and they are slow to feather in. I don't think its a bantam,

well, i'm just going off my personal experience. both my dutch and my d'uccle feathered faster and grew slower.

 

[Cowgirl71]

Your chick is not a bantam... A bantam would be MUCH smaller than your Barred Rocks. Here's a link with a picture of a Japanese bantam chick next to an Orpington chick: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bantam_and_standard_chicks.jpg

McMurray has posted these movies on Youtube that could maybe help you better than just pictures...

Modern BB Red Games: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB61HzjktvE&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Silver Leghorn:

Rose Comb Brown Leghorn (exactly the same as the Single Comb Brown Leghorn, except for the comb): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8h_H5PmDtE

(McMurray doesn't have a "chick flick" for the Phonix yet, LOL, but I found this one from Cackle Hatchery: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQkFMvwBkSk

Hopefully this maybe helps you a wee bit!

ETA: Don't cancel out Brown Leghorns just yet, just cause they're not on the Rare and Unusual page... There was someone on BYC not to long ago who ordered 25 Australorp pullets from McMurray and received a Rhode Island Red pullet as her "free rare exotic chick."

My order from McMurray finally came, and my free rare exotic is a White Crested Black Polish. He looks so funny mixed in with a bunch of "normal" chicks.