Just curious what this little guy might be. Came from a "barnyard mix"

[fluffycrow]

Do they breed for anything specific, or just BYM?

 

[Brclifon]

I posted their flock above.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I have BYM of RAINBOW HATCHING EGGS Available! Americuana, Australorp, barnvelder, bielefelder, red star, cuckoo marans, Plymouth Rock, Sussex, welsummer, cream legbar, Easter eggers, Oliver Eggers, leghorn, naked neck, and Wyandotte

Roos: bielefelders, cuckoo maran, old English game, Sussex, red star, black copper maran, cuckoo maran, and olive egger

Possible matches. Not really a big deal, just thought it would be cool if I could find out what the mix possibly would be. Much thanks for any replies.

I'm seeing single comb, slight feathering on the legs, and pinkish skin with a slatey wash on the legs. That means at least one parent must have had pinkish skin (as opposed to yellow skin), at least one parent had leg feathering, and both parents must have had at least one single comb gene. Since the chick is not barred, that eliminates the Bielefelder and Cuckoo Marans as possible fathers as they would pass barring to all offspring. The chick looks to me like a gold-birchen, so I would guess that the father is the Black Copper Marans, or that possibly an olive-egger is either the father or mother depending on what breeds were crossed to make them. That would cover the pink skin and leg feathering on the chick if the olive-eggers are part Black Copper Marans as well. Since gold-birchen is dominant over most other colorations, it's hard to say who the other parent is beyond that. Most likely not the Australorp as she would have passed on extended black to the chick, the one thing dominant over birchen. Easter-eggers (most likely what the 'Americuanas' are as well) frequently have pea combs and Wyandottes should be pure for rose combs, but either could also be split to single comb so they can't necessarily be ruled out completely... Same with the naked neck, she could be split for the gene and thus could throw some fully feathered chicks, so we can't really rule her out, either... The blurb above doesn't tell me what varieties of Sussex, Leghorn, Plymouth Rock, Wyandotte, or Old English Game are in their flock, so that makes it tougher to be sure.

Do you know what color of egg this chick hatched from? That would at least narrow things down a little bit.

 

[Brclifon]

I'm seeing single comb, slight feathering on the legs, and pinkish skin with a slatey wash on the legs. That means at least one parent must have had pinkish skin (as opposed to yellow skin), at least one parent had leg feathering, and both parents must have had at least one single comb gene. Since the chick is not barred, that eliminates the Bielefelder and Cuckoo Marans as possible fathers as they would pass barring to all offspring. The chick looks to me like a gold-birchen, so I would guess that the father is the Black Copper Marans, or that possibly an olive-egger is either the father or mother depending on what breeds were crossed to make them. That would cover the pink skin and leg feathering on the chick if the olive-eggers are part Black Copper Marans as well. Since gold-birchen is dominant over most other colorations, it's hard to say who the other parent is beyond that. Most likely not the Australorp as she would have passed on extended black to the chick, the one thing dominant over birchen. Easter-eggers (most likely what the 'Americuanas' are as well) frequently have pea combs and Wyandottes should be pure for rose combs, but either could also be split to single comb so they can't necessarily be ruled out completely... Same with the naked neck, she could be split for the gene and thus could throw some fully feathered chicks, so we can't really rule her out, either... The blurb above doesn't tell me what varieties of Sussex, Leghorn, Plymouth Rock, Wyandotte, or Old English Game are in their flock, so that makes it tougher to be sure.

Do you know what color of egg this chick hatched from? That would at least narrow things down a little bit.

Tan-brown. Not dark brown, but definitely not cream either, if that makes sense?

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Makes sense to me, yes! So, most likely then the chick is fathered by the BCM or olive-egger and the mother is either the Bielefelder, red star, Plymouth Rock (depending on her variety), Sussex, naked neck, or maybe the Wyandotte if she's split to single comb or the Cuckoo Marans as they sometimes don't lay very dark eggs. I don't think it can be narrowed down any further until the chick feathers in and we can see what influence its mothers genes are imparting on its plumage coloring and overall shape.

 

[Brclifon]

Makes sense to me, yes! So, most likely then the chick is fathered by the BCM or olive-egger and the mother is either the Bielefelder, red star, Plymouth Rock (depending on her variety), Sussex, naked neck, or maybe the Wyandotte if she's split to single comb or the Cuckoo Marans as they sometimes don't lay very dark eggs. I don't think it can be narrowed down any further until the chick feathers in and we can see what influence its mothers genes are imparting on its plumage coloring and overall shape.

Fair enough! Thank you for the info and conversation!

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

Makes sense to me, yes! So, most likely then the chick is fathered by the BCM or olive-egger and the mother is either the Bielefelder, red star, Plymouth Rock (depending on her variety), Sussex, naked neck, or maybe the Wyandotte if she's split to single comb or the Cuckoo Marans as they sometimes don't lay very dark eggs. I don't think it can be narrowed down any further until the chick feathers in and we can see what influence its mothers genes are imparting on its plumage coloring and overall shape.

I don't know anything about genetics, so I will just agree with you!

 

[Liz Birdlover]

I had an unusual looking chick once, no clue, as she came from Tractor Supply. At the time, they had RIR & Wyandottes. She was in with the RIR chicks. I went ahead & got the little oddball, as I'm a bit of an oddball myself lol.

Anyway, she lays an Ivory color egg, still has gray-green eyes & resembles my EEs, so go figure. I named her Mystery, as she certainly is one. Your mystery chick is adorable, too.

Pics of my little Mystery
(Looking for her baby pics, she had dark gray fuzz then grew gold feathers, quite a surprise)

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I had an unusual looking chick once, no clue, as she came from Tractor Supply. At the time, they had RIR & Wyandottes. She was in with the RIR chicks. I went ahead & got the little oddball, as I'm a bit of an oddball myself lol.

Anyway, she lays an Ivory color egg, still has gray-green eyes & resembles my EEs, so go figure. I named her Mystery, as she certainly is one. Your mystery chick is adorable, too.

Pics of my little Mystery
(Looking for her baby pics, she had dark gray fuzz then grew gold feathers, quite a surprise)

View attachment 3564350
View attachment 3564348View attachment 3564349

She could be a black sexlink of some sort. Most do have more black in them, but it varies quite a lot, from almost solid black to almost completely gold like your bird. Her patterning and the way you describe how she started out as a dark chick and feathered in gold is pretty typical of heavy color leakage on extended black, as is what black sexlink hens are, in my experience. That, or she's one of Hoover's so-called 'Rainbows' that are basically just mixes of mixes based on their description and can really look like anything from black to gold, barred or not, etc.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

She could be a black sexlink of some sort. Most do have more black in them, but it varies quite a lot, from almost solid black to almost completely gold like your bird. Her patterning and the way you describe how she started out as a dark chick and feathered in gold is pretty typical of heavy color leakage on extended black, as is what black sexlink hens are, in my experience. That, or she's one of Hoover's so-called 'Rainbows' that are basically just mixes of mixes based on their description and can really look like anything from black to gold, barred or not, etc.

It is amazing how colorful their feathers can be. I once had 2 pigeons, 1 solid brown, 1 solid black, they produced a pure white baby. Upon detailed examination, I did find 1 white feather on the black pigeon and 1 white feather on the brown pigeon. They were in odd spots, inner thigh and under chin, tiny white feathers most would never notice. You never know all of the possibilities until a little fuzzball gets feathers.

Then sometimes, they can change a bit more after 1st molt. My black Roo was solid black as a youngster, then as he grew he had just 4 black feathers with the ends tinged with gold. After his 1st molt, he has gorgeous gold glistening all through the black now, very handsome boy, a work of art with spurs.