My Sapphire Gem and Rhode Island Red Adventure

[MiniRaptorHouse]

Here's my 10 babies. They're about 7 weeks old now. 6 of them were sold as Sapphire Gem and 4 were sold as Rhode Island Reds. All 10 were supposed to be pullets, but we know how that goes. I have a sneaking suspicion one of my RIR may be a roo. Seems to be the last to grow feathers out and had some curve to the tail feathers. I'll share some pics of them all. What do yall think? Also one of my "sapphire gems" is super dark, almost black, could it be something else?

 

[Jener8or]

I have never seen a Sapphire Gem with that dark of melanization before, but a lot of blue chickens seem to have some. I think she still might be a SG, but see what others think. They are both really pretty!

Here's a good link discussing dark combs popping up in birds that aren't Ayam Cemani crosses or anything.

 

[MiniRaptorHouse]

The roo suspect

 

[MiniRaptorHouse]

The roo suspect

 

[MiniRaptorHouse]

He/she has tail feathers that curl under and doesn't seem to have saddle feathers yet

 

[MiniRaptorHouse]

I have never seen a Sapphire Gem with that dark of melanization before, but a lot of blue chickens seem to have some. I think she still might be a SG, but see what others think. They are both really pretty!

Thank you! I've been scouring the internet trying to find someone with a similar picture, they were in the bin with starlight green egger, but those aren't even close to the same color so it has me stumped.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Thank you! I've been scouring the internet trying to find someone with a similar picture, they were in the bin with starlight green egger, but those aren't even close to the same color so it has me stumped.

Bin-bingo; its a real thing!

 

[Jener8or]

He/she has tail feathers that curl under and doesn't seem to have saddle feathers yet

The boys (if there are any) won't get pointy hackle and saddle feathers for a few weeks. Do you have any better pictures of their faces/combs?

 

[jxp]

Who knows exactly how they'll all end up looking but at this stage I think the dark one is the prettiest of the lot. JMO

 

[Jener8or]

Thank you , I've added a thread to showcase the babies as they grow, but just in quick, here's the suspect he/she is very nosy and come a running everytime one of the girls picks a fight for pecking order.

Going from this pic in your intro thread, I still say pullet, but there's a small chance it could still be a sneaky cockerel. Since they are a production breed, I think the boys generally have bigger, redder combs by now.