Mystery chick from Murray McMurray

[FunClucks]

It's very hard to tell a WTB from an easter egger. WTB all have pea comb (some EEs dont?) and at least half have muffs and beards, and can have any feather coloration.

If it lays a pure sky blue egg, it could still be either. But since you have WTB in your order, if you have any birds that lay sky blue eggs and have pea combs, odds are good those are WTB. From what I can tell, the WTB birds sold by McMurray this year are basically an easter egger population where they totally eliminated the brown genes, so they all lay blue all the time, and will breed true for blue eggs. It's an actual breed, because it breeds true for blue egg color, as Tom Whiting intended.

Good luck figuring things out!

 

[Kung_pao]

I hope they all lay blue eggs. I hatched some from a breeder this spring and none of them have muffs or beards. I’ll be curious to compare egg size/color/quality and quantity. I want to work with the breed and get large blue eggs that are high quality.
Does anyone know if the chickens directly from Dr. Whiting ever had beards or muffs?

 

[rural mouse]

I have ordered from Murray McMurray hatchery many times going back to the mid 1970's and on every occassion the free chick has been an Americauana/Easter Egger cockerel.

We got a white sapphire and a gold penciled hamburg. The MIL has gotten a cochin(birchen? Black body, silver head) and a buff Brahma. (Total of 4 separate orders). the cochin was female.

 

[FunClucks]

Does anyone know if the chickens directly from Dr. Whiting ever had beards or muffs?

I have no idea, but I'd love to know myself. There's a number of recent Whiting True Blue threads. A few of us this year are ordering WTB, and I've been taking pics of mine as they grow out.

Large/X-Lrg blue eggs of good color, size, and quality is my goal also. My first flock was six prairie bluebells. One of them has good size, and most of them have good blue color, but it's paler than I'd like to see it, and there are quality issues with the shells. (Formation issues, Ca deposits, inconsistent coloration, and inconsistent size/shapes between birds). Really hoping the WTB do better than that. If not, I'll breed some that do (hopefully...)

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

Cockerel.

 

[Kung_pao]

Cockerel.

Don’t say that lol.

 

[Holdthechicken]

It has a similar pattern to my EE from Dunlap hatchery.. mine is maybe a bit lighter. I vote EE!

 

[Kung_pao]

I’m thinking this may just be another whiting true blue. I like the colors though.