Meyer Hatchery 2 questions please

[biophiliac]

I agree you have a BR cockerel in the last pic. Notice how wide the white bands on his wings compared to the BR pullet chick. I believe this is due to the double barring genes in the male. Happy you are enjoying your birds!

 

[ShrekDawg]

Hi sorry it took me so long to respond. I've been super busy lately. So the person with the English orps, BLRW and EE never really panned out. I think they may have too many orders or something but after initially responding to my requests I kinda never heard back from them. If still interested PM me and I'll give you the name. Don't really want to post it here

It's okay, that's understandable! And ah okay, that's okay then, I'm sure they're good and all and just busy like you said but I don't need more chicks atm anyway

 

[ShrekDawg]

The chicks are so cute!

 

[Merrymouse]

Barred Rock are usually slow feathering. There is a genetic control for how fast they feather out, some are fast feathering and some slow. If you set it up right you can even make sex links that are feather sexed at hatch.

The reason BR are usually slow feathering is that the slow feathering allows the barring to be crisp. The same barring gene with a fast feathering bird will create a cuckoo pattern, like a Dominique or Cuckoo Marans. It stands to reason a designer bird from a breeder would be slow feathering.

It’s too early to tell sex, but how big is the spot on the BR’s head. A fairly large spot usually means a male while a smaller spot is usually a female. The barring gene is a sex linked gene, which means the males have two of them but the females only have one. The double gene in the males makes the spots bigger.

I agree you have a BR cockerel in the last pic. Notice how wide the white bands on his wings compared to the BR pullet chick. I believe this is due to the double barring genes in the male. Happy you are enjoying your birds!

That is very interesting. I never knew that. "He" has a very tiny head spot and that is why I picked this chick. But the no tail and wide white barring on practically non existent primaries is making me think cockerel but only time will tell for sure. Hard to say because if I didn't know better I would swear my CL was a cockerel by attitude and comb.. She has the most apparent comb out of the whole bunch..you can see it in the picture too. Thanks both of you for your insight. Does any of the others scream cockerel to you?

 

[aart]

Does any of the others scream cockerel to you?

I usually don't even speculate until 5-6 weeks when size/color of comb/wattles will tell the tale.

 

[Merrymouse]

I usually don't even speculate until 5-6 weeks when size/color of comb/wattles will tell the tale.

But aart.....(said in a whineyvoice) patience is not my strong points

 

[aart]

Quote: hahaha!!
Chickens can teach you patience....or not<shrugs>
It can be fun to speculate early, it will might make the 5-6 week pass faster.

 

[debid]

hahaha!! Chickens can teach you patience....or not It can be fun to speculate early, it will might make the 5-6 week pass faster.

Nope, it drives me crazy. I have a dark Brahma this time and she (PLEASE BE A SHE!) is making me bonkers waiting for the feathers to tell the tale. Five weeks old today and she's still not done with her baby feathers while the Leghorn is molting already.

 

[biophiliac]

Yes his head spot is small. I am not claiming certainty about the gender, I can just tell you this was the main difference betw my little pullet and cockerel. The cockerels down was even lighter than the girls. Both head spots were kind of irregular and blurry so I really couldnt tell from that. Since my sample size was so tiny(2) I am interested to see what yours turn out to be.

 

[aart]

Quote: Me too, why I stopped doing it
Brahmas can be hard as they mature slower and they have pea(?) combs....and if you only have one, harder with no comparison.