Name these breeds, please!

[momileigh]

Hello, new here, and I'd like to find out what breeds of chicken my in-laws have.

They bought them at a feedstore and do not know the breeds. They got 4 yellow chicks and 4 brown and were told the yellow were egg chickens and the brown were meat chickens. Fast forward a few weeks, and 3 of the brown ones had died, and the yellow ones turned white and quickly grew a lot bigger than the brown. Now, 8 weeks after they came home, one white one has disappeared (hawk?) and we are left w/ 3 big white chickens and 1 smallish brown. Someone said that it makes no sense at all that the white chickens, which grew so fast, would be the egg ones, while the small, slower growing brown would be for meat. I'd have to agree, based on common sense and no real knowledge of chickens.

Meanwhile they are given free range of the yard and seem like nice birds. They were purchased primarily for pest control (ticks) and eggs. I guess they're too young to lay eggs yet.

I don't know how to insert pictures but there are some pics here: extremeleigh.blogspot.com

Thanks for any input. I'd like to let them know what they have and what kind of special considerations the chickens may have.

 

[mmajw]

It looks to me that the white ones are Cornish X which are meat chickens and they will grow double what a layer would that is why they are so big.

Could you get a better pic of them all maybe a side view?
You could upload them to photobucket.com and then load them onto here as well. Look under the FAQ section in here and there is great details on how to do that.

The brownish one appears to be a Rooster.

 

[LilPeeps]

The whites are cornish x, they will get very large and eventually won't be able to carry their own weight, at which time their legs will collapse. The brown looks like an oegb cockerel.

 

[OrganicCowgirl]

Since she doesn't seem to be a chicken lady herself, I thought I'd add that "oegb" is an Old English Game Bird and a cockerel is a young male.

Good luck with your ILs, momileigh.

 

[fancyfowl4ever]

Quote:
Acctually it means old english game BANTAM(miniture chicken).

 

[OrganicCowgirl]

Quote:
Acctually it means old english game BANTAM(miniture chicken).

D'oh.

Thanks for the fix!! (So much for me helping out, LOL.)

 

[fancyfowl4ever]

No problem, I know those days where even the stuff you know kind of illudes you for a sec or two(well, acctually half my life is like that lol

)......Anyhow, here are my guesses. The White ones look an aweful lot like the birds we in our house call "meat-mutants" or "meat-monsters" aka Broilers/meatbirds. These birds are kept for meat only since most don't even live until laying age and always have to be kept on a very strict feeding schedule. Still then laying can prove to be too much stress on their systems and they die anyhow....

The golden one looks an aweful lot like a Golden Campine rooster to me. I doubt it is bantam because besides a meatchicken a bantam would seem extremely puny. I got Old english game bantams and meatbirds of the same age free ranging right now and the bantams just barely reach the meatbirds chest.....

 

[momileigh]

Wow, you guys think the brown one is a rooster and the white ones are meat chickens! I can't believe it, all their effort and they likely won't get a single egg? (Effort: building their coop etc... obviously not research.)

I will *try* to get better pics but all I have is a camera phone, and it was hard to get close enough and them holding still. I only get out there every so often anyway.

If the white ones are the meat frankenbirds, how long do they have before they start to die? They are being free-ranged, but they prefer to stay close to the coop and eat their feed. They are not on any kind of strict feeding schedule or anything.

Thanks so much!

 

[mmajw]

I slaughter my meat birds at 8 weeks old. If they are growing slowly they could go to 12 weeks or more. They are known for heart and leg problems as they age.

 

[momileigh]

Ah cripes.

I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts they just let these birds live until they get sick and die.

We'll see. I'll tell them what you've said.