Light Brahma chick slow growing?

[3rdtimesacharm]

Hi Serenity! If you get this message, do ever remember what happened with your light Brahma? I have a puzzling chick here. At first I couldn't identify her because she was so dark!! She looked nothing like a dark Brahma or a buff Brahma, but she had the feathering on legs/feet. I have two cochins, a white and a blue, so it was apparent she wasn't a Cochin.

As time went on, she started developing what looked like a Columbian pattern, but with way way too much black and gray feathering on the underneath of the wings and on the tail... The tail is there but short. I thought maybe like a black chick I have who has 5 toes and slate legs, that maybe she was a Green Queen from Meyer Hatchery, but then I started to see so many Light Brahmas with her coloring!!

She was THE UGLIEST chick, I swear. Soooo ugly, but VERY beautiful now!! The "issue" (it's not truly an issue, I can have them) now is, she may be a rooster?? She is at the top of the pecking order, but not at the extreme top. This morning I witnessed her have a stare down and win with our top chicken, Dumpling. And she walks around chatting, and loves to sit on our laps, on our chairs, etc. I've noticed that because I have two roosts, she's moving off the roost that ten week old Stephen, my barred Plymouth Rock settles on. I feel like they are protecting the flock?? The flock perches on the two parallel, even roosts,5 on one, 6 on the other from the outer wall in to the center, with Stephen in the center on the end, and Freckles,let brahma taking the center spot on the other roost. Doesn't matter, if Stephen takes roost 1, Freckles moves to #2, if Stephen takes #2, then Freckles takes #1.

Her/his pea comb is salmon/red-nothing course to Stephen's red, considerably larger single comb, but redder than any of the other 11 ladies. I'm just SO curious as to if they accidentally gave me a rooster. They have a guarantee, and I paid a lot for Stephen because I wanted a rooster to help protect the flock, and they also charge more for sexed chicks, so if Freckles is indeed a rooster, I want my refund. It's their policy, and they need to learn that ppl aren't perfect. If I didn't let them know, then their sexers would think they're better than they are.

Hopefully you're still active on this board I'm guessing not, since you're still a songster after 8 years but maybe...

 

[3rdtimesacharm]

Here's her/his comb

 

[Compost King]

I bought 3 week old Light Brahmas recently and the chicks were grey, I thought maybe the lady selling them to me mixed them with Dark Brahmas but she showed me her chickens and she only had Light Brahmas. I saw the parents and they looked nice. Not sure if they were high or low quality by breeders standards because I am not much of an SOP guy. I was just hoping to get 1 male to cross with my CX hens I am rationing food to so I can hatch out my own meat birds Then use the females as egg layers and breed them with my RI Red Bantam Rooster to make unique looking sex Links. Its nice to see that they were supposed to be grey birds and not white birds. I had Hatchery quality Light Brahamas before and they were white chicks.

(EDIT--- I forgot to point out, I have them with various chicks that are 2 weeks younger in the brooder, although they are slightly bigger they seem to be as developed as chicks 2 weeks young, they are maturing very slow and I believe that is the norm for Brahmas... hate it when my original point was left out of the post because I tend to ramble about nothing lol)

 

[3rdtimesacharm]

Did your brahma chicks look like this?

 

[3rdtimesacharm]

Because this is her now!! I called her my ugly little chickling!! She was the ugliest of them all. I still question whether she is a he. She acts just like Stephen, our barred Plymouth Rock rooster, same age. They're VERY similar in personality compared to my other 11