Lots of Pretty Roos - What Breed? Any Pullets? (PIC HEAVY)

[serinat]

Prior to August, we've only ever had Buff Orpingtons. But then I ordered this All Heavy (males) assortment from McMurray, 25 of them + 1 rare breed chick, for meat birds. Now that they're getting bigger, I'm really hoping you can help me figure out what they are. We might want to keep one to be our replacement roo, so I need to know what breed they are to make a good decision. Here's the description from Murray McMurray:

If you are looking for cockerels and want a heavy breed to eat - our All Heavy Assortment is what you need! Butcher them young for fryers or hold them a little longer for a delicious roasting bird. Each of these assortments will give you at least 5 different heavy breeds. Our choice of varieties, but we guarantee at least 5 different ones from this list: Black Australorps; Lt. Brahmas; Dark Cornish; Black and White Giants; Buff and White Orpingtons; New Hampshire, Rhode Island Reds, Barred, White, Partridge, Buff Rocks; Sussex, Turkens; White, Silver Laced, & Columbian Wyandottes, Red Star and Black Star.

And just to confuse things, I got the free rare breed chick. There are a bunch of whites and buffs, but they look so much alike I'm not bothering to post pictures. I'm just posting the most confusing ones here. Here goes! They are 12 weeks today. (If one looks like a pullet to you, please let me know. I'm thinking the rare breed chick was probably a male, but you never know!)

Chicken A (there are actually two of these, so I'm not sure if these pics are all the same chicken):

Chicken B:

Chicken C:

Chicken D:

Chicken E (we have at least five this color, and I think they're all the same breed):

Thanks so much for your help!​

 

[muddyhorse]

I'm pretty sure A,B,and C are Easter egger roos B and C definitely d is a Barred rock a maran would have white legs. E is a production red. I would keep the easter eggers they have a chance at passing on blue or green eggs.

 

[sourland]

A, B, and C are EE cockerels. E is a production red cockerel. D ? hang on to that one for a while looks sort of feminine to me.

 

[redfeather]

I would keep Chicken C because he's just so purdy. And if he's an EE, he could pass on blue/green eggs!

And then, Chicken D looks kinda henny to me as well. I would hold on to it for at least a little while.

 

[serinat]

thanks for the help i've gotten so far. feel free to keep chiming in.

questions:
-what exactly *are* easter eggers? how can i learn about them - breed background, cold hardiness, productivity, broodiness, size, etc.?

-what exactly is a production red? are they hybrids, i assume? my biggest cockerel is one of those red ones, and i was kind of hoping he was pure bred something, so he could pass on his good size (as well as egg laying) genetics.

we are looking for good, fast growth, cold hardiness, and good egg-laying productivity.

 

[serinat]

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yes, he's gorgeous, isn't he?

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i agree - both of my (presumably) barred rocks look rather pullet-ish. they aren't very big, small combs, smaller legs, etc. but their barring is rather light, as well.

 

[BookWorm243]

D looks like a pullet to me and looks like a barred rock. B might be a pullet to not to sure tho it looks like a EE. A and C also look like EE's to me. E looks like a Newhampsire Red. Sorry but a mystery chick is always a roo in any order. Every hatchery does that they call it different things the only one (that I know of) that does not send extra male chicks is My Pet Chicken.


E looks just like my Newhampshire Red who is a wonderful pet and is a egg laying machine!

Easter Eggers (EE) Are a mix of many different breeds they lay colored eggs ( Olive, Blue and some times even Pink! ) They can go broody my EE Loves sitting on eggs! They are very cold tolerant.

Production reds are a hybrid breed. And are good egg layers.

 

[smarsh2]

C is a gorgeous fellow. please keep him so you can post a pic of him when he is grown.

 

[Domestic_goddess]

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I agree He's beautiful!

 

[serinat]

LOL. I realized how much I like Chicken C when I was looking through all the pictures I'd taken of the cockerels - half of them were of him. He's so pretty. He's also one of the bigger ones (though not as big as the red chickens), so that works in his favor, as well. Today, at dusk, I saw the sunlight bouncing off his tail feathers, and they're a gorgeous midnight blue.

How can you tell what kind of comb a bird will have? By what age? His comb isn't huge yet, and I'm wondering if it will be a pea comb? I'd love a rooster with a smaller comb, as our Buff Orpington rooster got a little frost damage to his last winter.