Is our hen a Black Orpington or a Black Australorp?

[SwampPrincessChick]

Hello!
I have been assuming our hen, Mumble, is a Black Orpington, but I'm not entirely sure. We got her "accidentally" at Tractor Supply, which only has the Buff variety of Orpington, and no other variety. At the same time, Tractor Supply does have Black Australorps, but I see Mumble as too Orpington-like to be one, though it could be possible. I want to confirm what Mumble exactly is! Any idea?

Mumble lays tan or brown eggs and has a rose comb. I don't know if that will help or not, because both the Black Orpington and Black Australorps have those traits, but I think it does.

Here's some backstory on how we got Mumble:

We ordered (via phone call) ten California Grays at Tractor Supply. Upon receiving them, we ended up with only five California Grays and five others that we have no idea the breed of. One ended up being a cock, too. In those five mystery chickens, we got Mumble. The odd thing is that, at the time, no black breeds were available in the Tractor Supply chick bins (unless they had mixed California Grays with some other breed). Therefore, we can't exactly narrow it down to which Tractor Supply breeds Mumble could have came from.

Moral of the story: don't buy chicks from Tractor Supply on April Fool's Day.

@SwampQueenChick
@3KillerBs

 

[Tookie]

She's neither of those breeds, not sure what she is.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Black Wyandotte.

She's got bleached legs/feet, they were once yellow.

 

[Sussex19]

Black Wyandotte.

She's got bleached legs/feet, they were once yellow.

I was thinking that she looked like a Wyandotte, but I didn't know that one gets black ones.

 

[SourRoses]

Orpingtons have straight combs.
I think her body looks Orpington. But she also has a darker underlayer skin on her shanks.
So, my guess is a mix.

Someone else on here receiving a "mystery chick" this year ended up with a mixed breed chick. Maybe those "extra" eggs come from project / outbreeding pens?

 

[GravityWaves]

Do you know for sure which hatchery TS ordered your birds from? (I assume Hoover's but just wondering.) Also, were there any other black birds w/ a rose comb in your "mystery" chicks? From what I can tell Hoover's doesn't sell Black Wyandottes or Black Orpingtons...Maybe they're working on BBS Wyandottes?

They do sell English Orpingtons and show a blue, black, and a splash bird on that page but only list the blue (out of those three) as being for sale. They also sell a Chocolate Orpington but say in the description they use Black Australorps as the female in that cross.

In the very early 1900's there was a rose comb Black Orpington developed and exhibited but I assume it would be exceedingly rare to get a throwback from them.

 

[3KillerBs]

Mumble lays tan or brown eggs and has a rose comb

Neither Orpington nor Australorp then.

I'm about to clock in at work, but I'll try to think of any rose-combed black breeds that might be available somewher.

 

[Cierrascoop]

She honestly resembles my black Australorp hen from TSC a lot. I will snap a photo of her later on. Katie also lays a cream colored egg most of the time. Sometimes it's a bit darker, but mostly cream colored. I have a roo from TSC as well. I'll get them both later on here.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

Black Wyandotte.

She's got bleached legs/feet, they were once yellow.

That makes so much more sense now! At the time of us ordering the chicks through phone call, they had Columbian Wyandottes available. They must have mixed in a Black Wyandotte!

Orpingtons have straight combs.
I think her body looks Orpington. But she also has a darker underlayer skin on her shanks.
So, my guess is a mix.

Someone else on here receiving a "mystery chick" this year ended up with a mixed breed chick. Maybe those "extra" eggs come from project / outbreeding pens?

I heard Orpingtons can both have straight and rose combs, but maybe that was false.

Do you know for sure which hatchery TS ordered your birds from? (I assume Hoover's but just wondering.) Also, were there any other black birds w/ a rose comb in your "mystery" chicks? From what I can tell Hoover's doesn't sell Black Wyandottes or Black Orpingtons...Maybe they're working on BBS Wyandottes?

They do sell English Orpingtons and show a blue, black, and a splash bird on that page but only list the blue (out of those three) as being for sale. They also sell a Chocolate Orpington but say in the description they use Black Australorps as the female in that cross.

In the very early 1900's there was a rose comb Black Orpington developed and exhibited but I assume it would be exceedingly rare to get a throwback from them.

No, unfortunately I don't know which hatchery Tractor Supply got her from. I'm assuming Hoover's Hatchery as well.

Neither Orpington nor Australorp then.

I'm about to clock in at work, but I'll try to think of any rose-combed black breeds that might be available somewher.

Alright, I must have read something that was false because when I Googled, it said Orpingtons and Australorps could both have rose combs.

She honestly resembles my black Australorp hen from TSC a lot. I will snap a photo of her later on. Katie also lays a cream colored egg most of the time. Sometimes it's a bit darker, but mostly cream colored. I have a roo from TSC as well. I'll get them both later on here.

Alright, I will be happy to see what she looks like!

 

[3KillerBs]

Alright, I must have read something that was false because when I Googled, it said Orpingtons and Australorps could both have rose combs.

No, the SOP for those breeds in the US and in Australia requires a single comb.

I can't recall any black breeds with rose combs. Perhaps she's some kind of "egger" with Wyandotte ancestry?

A beautiful bird whatever her heritage.