My husband bought these - what breed?

[Ch1cken Tender]

Welcome to BYC @TinyDinosaurRaiser86! I love the username!

 

[house1917]

The good news is that they’re all pullets!! And they appear to be layer hybrids so lots of eggs in your future

 

[TinyDinosaurRaiser86]

Welcome to BYC @TinyDinosaurRaiser86! I love the username!

Thanks

 

[TinyDinosaurRaiser86]

They look like they are all mixes, however you can update us when they gain more feathers in. Also, all chickens have a sheen (except for the Featherless breed), not just Australorps.

My Jersey Giants are black but no beetle so I thought it was a helpful indicator.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

My Jersey Giants are black but no beetle so I thought it was a helpful indicator.

Beetle isn't the only sheen color. Usually when people say their birds have a beetle sheen, it means they have a mix of green and blue sheen. However, there is also silver, gray and violet sheen, which can also co-exist with other sheens on a bird's plumage. Not only can a chicken have beetle sheen, but they can also have blue or green sheen alone without the other.

 

[Ponypoor]

My husband bought these pullets at the local feed store. I do not know which hatchery/hatcheries supply the store but I may be able to ask if needed. They are approximately 3 months old. I suspect bird 1 and 5 may be the same breed but exhibit different color variation within the breed on the front of their necks? I appreciate your help.

Ps sorry about the gray spots. My camera phone is cracked.

Your best bet is to call the Feed Mill and ask them where they got the chicks on 'such and such' date. They likely get them from a local hatchery if there is one close-by, or from one like Hoovers Hatchery.

If Hoovers I would say the blue's are their brand called Sapphire Gem or even a Prairie Blue Bell, and the red looks like a Starlight Green Egger (or maybe a Red Sex-link variety).

https://hoovershatchery.com/prairiebluebellegger.html

Once they start laying eggs you will get a better idea, maybe they will be blue and green egg layers!!!

I look forward to see what colour eggs they lay

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

Your best bet is to call the Feed Mill and ask them where they got the chicks on 'such and such' date. They likely get them from a local hatchery if there is one close-by, or from one like Hoovers Hatchery.

If Hoovers I would say the blue's are their brand called Sapphire Gem or even a Prairie Blue Bell, and the red looks like a Starlight Green Egger (or maybe a Red Sex-link variety).

https://hoovershatchery.com/prairiebluebellegger.html

Once they start laying eggs you will get a better idea, maybe they will be blue and green egg layers!!!

I look forward to see what colour eggs they lay

If they are from Hoover's Hatchery, they would definitely not be anything straightbred. Tractor Supply goes through Hoover's Hatchery, and I can speak from experience that neither of those places knows exactly what they're doing.

 

[Ponypoor]

If they are from Hoover's Hatchery, they would definitely not be anything straightbred. Tractor Supply goes through Hoover's Hatchery, and I can speak from experience that neither of those places knows exactly what they're doing.

Yup - agreed, we no longer have TSC here - Peavey Mart bought them out. But they have dealt with Hoovers in the past so still do. Meanwhile we have a perfectly wonderful hatchery here (Freys) not a 2 hr drive away - and they DELIVER the chicks themselves on the dates, to the local Feed Mills.

My Feed Mill where I buy my horse & chicken feed deal with Freys, but they are quite expensive - over $12/chick from Freys, as opposed to $9/chick at Peavey, not a big deal if your only getting 4 or so.

I got my 4 chicklets (pullets) from Peavey Mart (4 weeks ago) to shove under my broody hen, and they told me they were Bielefelder and Legbar from their 'coloured egg layer variety pack'.

Now I know that Bielefelder, while Hoovers does have them, are not one of the breeds listed in the Hoover coloured egg variety pack, and they do not have Legbars as far as I know.

At this point I am not overly concerned about breed, I just want to ensure they are Pullets!

But yes these big hatcheries are notorious for not sending proper breeds as listed. Get what you pay for I guess.

Meanwhile I can't wait to see what the OPs pullets lay - will they be blue, green, brown?

We need to start a pool I say!

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

Now I know that Bielefelder, while Hoovers does have them, are not one of the breeds listed in the Hoover coloured egg variety pack, and they do not have Legbars as far as I know.

I purchased four bantams from Tractor Supply a few months ago, and I specifically picked out the three I knew were an Old English Game Bantam, Silver Sebright, and Golden Sebright, respectively. The last one was a brown chick that I was curious of its breed, so I got it as well. It turned out to be a Rhode Island Red Bantam pullet, which I named Ruby, but when I first got those chicks I had checked everywhere on the Hoover's Hatchery website to find out what my brown chick was. Rhode Island Red Bantams were never listed. Your situation could come from the same issue.

But yes these big hatcheries are notorious for not sending proper breeds as listed. Get what you pay for I guess.

Not only are they notorious for not sending proper breeds, but Tractor Supply is notorious for mixing up random breeds and even species. I saw two ducklings in the Brahma bin, Cornish Cross in the bantam bin (which the employees claimed to be Buff Orpingtons), and too many other things to count.

 

[Ponypoor]

I purchased four bantams from Tractor Supply a few months ago, and I specifically picked out the three I knew were an Old English Game Bantam, Silver Sebright, and Golden Sebright, respectively. The last one was a brown chick that I was curious of its breed, so I got it as well. It turned out to be a Rhode Island Red Bantam pullet, which I named Ruby, but when I first got those chicks I had checked everywhere on the Hoover's Hatchery website to find out what my brown chick was. Rhode Island Red Bantams were never listed. Your situation could come from the same issue.


Not only are they notorious for not sending proper breeds, but Tractor Supply is notorious for mixing up random breeds and even species. I saw two ducklings in the Brahma bin, Cornish Cross in the bantam bin (which the employees claimed to be Buff Orpingtons), and too many other things to count.

A couple of the chicks seem to be having tufts appearing on their heads.

Well now I am eager to see what the OPs pullets and my pullets grow into