Mosaic Chickens?

[Pigeony]

Wow those are your mosaics? They are so different than what mine looked like at hatch. All mine looked like some variation of this monochrome chipmunk coloring, with the males having more light spots and the females having more dark. Their leg skin and beaks were dark on all the babies.

Oh btw this two pictures are of a single chick and she ended up being female.

 

[Ilovechickens2525]

Well two of mine have dark chipmunk stripes (the third just hatched). And the first one has some black on the back, not stripes. I’ve pulled that one out as he hatched over 24 hours ago. The other two are still in the incubator. Maybe the chipmunk stripes are girls and the lighter yellow puff one is a boy? That one is certainly assertive and pecks at everything

 

[SourRoses]

Well two of mine have dark chipmunk stripes (the third just hatched). And the first one has some black on the back, not stripes. I’ve pulled that one out as he hatched over 24 hours ago. The other two are still in the incubator. Maybe the chipmunk stripes are girls and the lighter yellow puff one is a boy? That one is certainly assertive and pecks at everything

Sadly, someone sold you non-Mosaics. They sure are cute though!
They don't show any fibro on their faces, including the blue tinged beak.
For a little while, it was common for people to think that "Mosaic" was a feather color variety that could be bred for with non-fibro stock, and were marketing their hatching eggs and chicks as such!

When you look for stock again, make sure it specifies "Blue Ear" Mosaics. This is the actual Mosaic line originating from the original breeder.
There is a good group on FB for Mosaic breeders. Some on there can supply hatching eggs and ship chicks.

I got my stock from Alison in Louisiana who was admin on the page for a long time.
When I kept them, something we all discussed was that plumage and gender was starting to correlate, but(!) it is not 100%, maybe around 80-90%.
The genetics involved in the fluctuating color pattern are too varied, and one breeder may breed for darker birds while another prefers lighter ones. It is not yet solidified as a breed, and in fact the recent breeders have had to work harder on Mosaics due to the lack of a clear plan from the original breeder. Alison preferred the heart shaped ticking in the breast feathers, so she bred towards that and darkened her stock up as a result. Robbie and Keegan preferred dark birds for better fibro expression, some of theirs are almost black. While a few other breeders thought the cream based color looked more fetching. So please don't use feather color alone to sex your stock!

What I liked about Mosaics...
- Fibro expression for Blue ears.
- Health and Vigor. I found chicks more resistant to the virulent strain of Coccidiosis running rampant several years in a row on our old property, compared to chicks raised alongside from 6 other breeds.
- Decent rate of lay... 3-5 eggs per week/hen.

What I disliked about Mosaics...
- Males more likely to lose Blue ears towards the end of their first year, due to unknown factors. It's a tendency that was still being worked on, and randomly cropping back up again.
- Lightweight, smaller birds just above bantam size, like Leghorns are.
- Egg size medium at best.
- Flighty, hard to handle. Not all were like this, but I had some Mosaic pullets that were the most difficult birds I have EVER tried to catch, and I have caught a lot. Even in confined spaces, even with all the tricks that worked with others. They got used to humans hanging out with them but did not like to be approached.
- Mosaic roos can show aggression towards hens. I had to cull our very last Mosaic cockerel for fatally wounding a hen. A good breeder should be stringent to only breed the best in temperament, Looks come after.

So I folded Mosaics in to my current project, and still have one of the original F1 hens out there who is a beautiful Fibro.
Picture:

Spoiler

She's half Ameraucana and lays a super glossy light green-blue shade.
(The extended black & melanizers from Ameraucana helped the Fibro expression)
She also has a much improved personality, although still not up for contact. Less reactive and she is very intelligent.

 

[Ilovechickens2525]

Sadly, someone sold you non-Mosaics. They sure are cute though!
They don't show any fibro on their faces, including the blue tinged beak.
For a little while, it was common for people to think that "Mosaic" was a feather color variety that could be bred for with non-fibro stock, and were marketing their hatching eggs and chicks as such!

When you look for stock again, make sure it specifies "Blue Ear" Mosaics. This is the actual Mosaic line originating from the original breeder.
There is a good group on FB for Mosaic breeders. Some on there can supply hatching eggs and ship chicks.

I got my stock from Alison in Louisiana who was admin on the page for a long time.
When I kept them, something we all discussed was that plumage and gender was starting to correlate, but(!) it is not 100%, maybe around 80-90%.
The genetics involved in the fluctuating color pattern are too varied, and one breeder may breed for darker birds while another prefers lighter ones. It is not yet solidified as a breed, and in fact the recent breeders have had to work harder on Mosaics due to the lack of a clear plan from the original breeder. Alison preferred the heart shaped ticking in the breast feathers, so she bred towards that and darkened her stock up as a result. Robbie and Keegan preferred dark birds for better fibro expression, some of theirs are almost black. While a few other breeders thought the cream based color looked more fetching. So please don't use feather color alone to sex your stock!

What I liked about Mosaics...
- Fibro expression for Blue ears.
- Health and Vigor. I found chicks more resistant to the virulent strain of Coccidiosis running rampant several years in a row on our old property, compared to chicks raised alongside from 6 other breeds.
- Decent rate of lay... 3-5 eggs per week/hen.

What I disliked about Mosaics...
- Males more likely to lose Blue ears towards the end of their first year, due to unknown factors. It's a tendency that was still being worked on, and randomly cropping back up again.
- Lightweight, smaller birds just above bantam size, like Leghorns are.
- Egg size medium at best.
- Flighty, hard to handle. Not all were like this, but I had some Mosaic pullets that were the most difficult birds I have EVER tried to catch, and I have caught a lot. Even in confined spaces, even with all the tricks that worked with others. They got used to humans hanging out with them but did not like to be approached.
- Mosaic roos can show aggression towards hens. I had to cull our very last Mosaic cockerel for fatally wounding a hen. A good breeder should be stringent to only breed the best in temperament, Looks come after.

So I folded Mosaics in to my current project, and still have one of the original F1 hens out there who is a beautiful Fibro.
Picture:

Spoiler

View attachment 4065297

She's half Ameraucana and lays a super glossy light green-blue shade.
(The extended black & melanizers from Ameraucana helped the Fibro expression)
She also has a much improved personality, although still not up for contact. Less reactive and she is very intelligent.

Beautiful!

It’s not showing up well in the picture but the one that has fluffed out in the incubator does have a blue tinge to her beak and her legs are blue. Can’t see skin too well yet though as I haven’t taken her out of the incubator. I’ll attach pics of the parent stock from the breeder. They do look like mosaics to me? Though I don’t have any prior experience with the breed.

That is good to know about their temperament. The lighter coloured one is already the most lively chick I’ve ever seen. I’m not planning on keeping any Roos, I have a spot lined up to rehome them. We’ll see what they think of their temperament lol!

Thank you for all of this information, very helpful!

 

[Pigeony]

Sadly, someone sold you non-Mosaics. They sure are cute though!
They don't show any fibro on their faces, including the blue tinged beak.
For a little while, it was common for people to think that "Mosaic" was a feather color variety that could be bred for with non-fibro stock, and were marketing their hatching eggs and chicks as such!

When you look for stock again, make sure it specifies "Blue Ear" Mosaics. This is the actual Mosaic line originating from the original breeder.
There is a good group on FB for Mosaic breeders. Some on there can supply hatching eggs and ship chicks.

I got my stock from Alison in Louisiana who was admin on the page for a long time.
When I kept them, something we all discussed was that plumage and gender was starting to correlate, but(!) it is not 100%, maybe around 80-90%.
The genetics involved in the fluctuating color pattern are too varied, and one breeder may breed for darker birds while another prefers lighter ones. It is not yet solidified as a breed, and in fact the recent breeders have had to work harder on Mosaics due to the lack of a clear plan from the original breeder. Alison preferred the heart shaped ticking in the breast feathers, so she bred towards that and darkened her stock up as a result. Robbie and Keegan preferred dark birds for better fibro expression, some of theirs are almost black. While a few other breeders thought the cream based color looked more fetching. So please don't use feather color alone to sex your stock!

What I liked about Mosaics...
- Fibro expression for Blue ears.
- Health and Vigor. I found chicks more resistant to the virulent strain of Coccidiosis running rampant several years in a row on our old property, compared to chicks raised alongside from 6 other breeds.
- Decent rate of lay... 3-5 eggs per week/hen.

What I disliked about Mosaics...
- Males more likely to lose Blue ears towards the end of their first year, due to unknown factors. It's a tendency that was still being worked on, and randomly cropping back up again.
- Lightweight, smaller birds just above bantam size, like Leghorns are.
- Egg size medium at best.
- Flighty, hard to handle. Not all were like this, but I had some Mosaic pullets that were the most difficult birds I have EVER tried to catch, and I have caught a lot. Even in confined spaces, even with all the tricks that worked with others. They got used to humans hanging out with them but did not like to be approached.
- Mosaic roos can show aggression towards hens. I had to cull our very last Mosaic cockerel for fatally wounding a hen. A good breeder should be stringent to only breed the best in temperament, Looks come after.

So I folded Mosaics in to my current project, and still have one of the original F1 hens out there who is a beautiful Fibro.
Picture:

Spoiler

View attachment 4065297

She's half Ameraucana and lays a super glossy light green-blue shade.
(The extended black & melanizers from Ameraucana helped the Fibro expression)
She also has a much improved personality, although still not up for contact. Less reactive and she is very intelligent.

Lovely bird! Yes, I'm sure that what I shared about what I saw in my hatchlings is not standard for all mosaics everywhere, but it's things I noticed as I was raising them. The line I got my birds from may have the feather color correlation but other lines may not. It was readily noticeable with mine.

 

[Pigeony]

Beautiful!

It’s not showing up well in the picture but the one that has fluffed out in the incubator does have a blue tinge to her beak and her legs are blue. Can’t see skin too well yet though as I haven’t taken her out of the incubator. I’ll attach pics of the parent stock from the breeder. They do look like mosaics to me? Though I don’t have any prior experience with the breed.

That is good to know about their temperament. The lighter coloured one is already the most lively chick I’ve ever seen. I’m not planning on keeping any Roos, I have a spot lined up to rehome them. We’ll see what they think of their temperament lol!

Thank you for all of this information, very helpful!

Genetically those parent birds could not have produced those babies, so those are not the parent stock. Two birds with that dark of skin don't produce such pale babies. I'd be interested to know what the actual stock they came from looked like and I'm interested in seeing what they end up growing up into though, so post pictures if you can. I notice the Breezy Bird Farms watermark, there's a couple threads on here with reviews on them and from what I've seen they don't seem to be very positive. I wouldn't consider them a reputable breeder.

 

[Ilovechickens2525]

Genetically those parent birds could not have produced those babies, so those are not the parent stock. Two birds with that dark of skin don't produce such pale babies. I'd be interested to know what the actual stock they came from looked like and I'm interested in seeing what they end up growing up into though, so post pictures if you can. I notice the Breezy Bird Farms watermark, there's a couple threads on here with reviews on them and from what I've seen they don't seem to be very positive. I wouldn't consider them a reputable breeder.

Yes, that is where they came from. It’s interesting because I’ve read those reviews on here and they are so positively regarded here!

 

[Pigeony]

Maybe there is support for them on here that I haven't seen, but when I looked up "Breezy Bird Farms backyardchickens" on Google, these were the first two threads:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/breezy-bird-farms-canada.1502642/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/breezy-bird-farm-reviews.1286074/

Both overall negative. It seems like they're fine if you want a mix of chicks/don't care about breeds, but their stock is of questionable quality with crossbeaks common in some of their breeds and there also seems to be quite a few people who got different birds from what they ordered. Regardless, it's misrepresentation to show you those picture of their "stock" when those hatchlings are what you're actually going to get, which definitely loses any breeder a lot of points in my book.

 

[Ilovechickens2525]

Maybe there is support for them on here that I haven't seen, but when I looked up "Breezy Bird Farms backyardchickens" on Google, these were the first two threads:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/breezy-bird-farms-canada.1502642/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/breezy-bird-farm-reviews.1286074/

Both overall negative. It seems like they're fine if you want a mix of chicks/don't care about breeds, but their stock is of questionable quality with crossbeaks common in some of their breeds and there also seems to be quite a few people who got different birds from what they ordered. Regardless, it's misrepresentation to show you those picture of their "stock" when those hatchlings are what you're actually going to get, which definitely loses any breeder a lot of points in my book.

Yeah I have seen the threads on this site, they really worried and surprised me. As I had already placed my orders with them.

The feedback on google reviews was good though and in our local Facebook groups. I hatched bielefelders from her a month ago and they were healthy. I hope these negative reviews are in the minority as other feedback has been more positive. Honestly I think part of the negative feedback was people not responding well to her personality. Obviously this is off topic though!

I hope these do turn out to be true mosaics. I will keep you updated with photos as they get their feathers.

 

[Ilovechickens2525]

Two weeks Old now, her skin does look pretty blue to me.

I forgot to get a picture of the lighter one.