ISA brown chick - roo or hen?? - NEW PICS!

[Ohhhdear]

I have 12 ISA Brown pullets I got at TSC the first of April. They've been laying since mid-July. One chick was all white, and we were certain this chicken would be a rooster, but no... as she got more feathered out she got more and more streaky brown feathers. She now lays some of the biggest brown eggs of the flock. I found that 4 of the girls were perhaps 2 weeks older than the rest, and developed combs earlier.
Just give them time to fill out and get their adult featherings. You can tell if it's a roo if he mounts the other chickens, crows 24/7, is aggressive (usually) and plays guard dog.

 

[arosa102]

Did the suspect bird end up being a roo or a hen? I'm having the same issue right now with an isa brown that looks exactly like your picture at 5 weeks.

Thanks!

 

[Tricoglossus]

Did the suspect bird end up being a roo or a hen? I'm having the same issue right now with an isa brown that looks exactly like your picture at 5 weeks.

Thanks!

With ISA browns, the secret's in the name.

Brown = pullet, white = rooster.

Looking back over this thread from start to finish, I'm surprised that the gender of the bird was ever called into question. If you have purchased commercial generation ISA browns and they are brown, you have exactly what you paid for - pullets!

 

[Walkerspoint]

Hi there, I've read the thread and - at present - have 12 chicks a week old that I incubated (my first lot this way; always had clucky hens in the past that would hatch out a clutch) - they are from Isa Brown hens with an Isa Brown Rooster who is very handsome and the nicest, kindest roosters I've had. What I'm wondering is, since I think I have about 1/2 1/2 white and brown; when does a rooster chick (who is presumably white according to everyone's opinion) change colour to brown like my rooster? Also two of my chicks are from a different hen who was white with a feint beige on her back (she sadly died whilst the eggs were in the incubator; two of which were hers. When they hatched (and the white hen's eggs which were white, were the last to hatch and had harder shells to crack I"m sure) one was white and the other brownish; not sure what they are going to be? Again, when do the white roos turn to brown please?

 

[donrae]

Hi there, I've read the thread and - at present - have 12 chicks a week old that I incubated (my first lot this way; always had clucky hens in the past that would hatch out a clutch) - they are from Isa Brown hens with an Isa Brown Rooster who is very handsome and the nicest, kindest roosters I've had. What I'm wondering is, since I think I have about 1/2 1/2 white and brown; when does a rooster chick (who is presumably white according to everyone's opinion) change colour to brown like my rooster? Also two of my chicks are from a different hen who was white with a feint beige on her back (she sadly died whilst the eggs were in the incubator; two of which were hers. When they hatched (and the white hen's eggs which were white, were the last to hatch and had harder shells to crack I"m sure) one was white and the other brownish; not sure what they are going to be? Again, when do the white roos turn to brown please?

Sex linkage is a one time thing. When you cross them with each other, you lose the genetics that link the gender to the color of the bird. So, you have a random mix of red and white birds, regardless of gender. You'll have to wait for combs, etc to sex your birds, just like any other mixed breed.

But, you keep saying your ISA brown rooster is brown. An ISA brown rooster is silver based, genetically. They usually have red/brown leakage on the wings, but the base color of the body is silver/white.So I'm not sure what your bird really is......can you post a pic? Regardless, mixing him with red sex link hens is going to give you mixed breed birds, same as with your other hen. From your description she sounds like possibly an Amberlink or something similar. All the chicks you hatched should make great layers, with those genetics.

 

[drumstick diva]

x 2

 

[Walkerspoint]

Sex linkage is a one time thing. When you cross them with each other, you lose the genetics that link the gender to the color of the bird. So, you have a random mix of red and white birds, regardless of gender. You'll have to wait for combs, etc to sex your birds, just like any other mixed breed. 

But, you keep saying your ISA brown rooster is brown. An ISA brown rooster is silver based, genetically. They usually have red/brown leakage on the wings, but the base color of the body is silver/white.So I'm not sure what your bird really is......can you post a pic? Regardless, mixing him with red sex link hens is going to give you mixed breed birds, same as with your other hen. From your description she sounds like possibly an Amberlink or something similar. All the chicks you hatched should make great layers, with those genetics. 

 

[Walkerspoint]

 

[Walkerspoint]

Sorry I'm new at this..didn't know it was uploading the lhoto of my rooster which I assumed was an Isa Brown until someone said probably not. I didn't breed this one but raised from 5 wks. My hens are Isa Brown. I incubated 12 chicks. Two were from a small white hen with fawn tinge on her back. Want to upload photo of chicks..

 

[Walkerspoint]