I posted this in the chicks thread because they are only 4 weeks old, so I'm going to copy and paste:
Ok, so I asked on here (two different threads) if anyone could help me identify my chicks...I got them from Southern States, and they were supposed to be Barred Rocks (they "only" had RIR's, BR's, some turkeys and some ducks). Two of my six that I picked out had brown around their eyes. I thought perhaps they were a BR mix, but no one could confirm for me.
I called the Southern States I got the chicks from and asked what the name of the hatchery was they used. They told me Mt. Healthy in Ohio. So I called the hatchery and after speaking to someone, sent an email with pictures of my two chicks...at 1 day old and 4 weeks old. The woman called me back a few hours later and told me they are NOT Barred Rocks, that they are Commercial Blacks.
Does anyone know anything about this breed? My chicks are 4 weeks old, and I had intended on only having Barred Rocks. Now I have two of this Commercial Black breed and I don't know what to expect in behavior! Also, I'm pretty good at sexing BR's, but I don't know how to sex Commercial Blacks.
The only information they gave me about the breed is that they are mixed with a bunch of different breeds, they lay brown eggs, they are high egg producers (bred to be that) with an average of 350-450 eggs per year, and that they are slightly smaller than a Barred Rock, with an average weight around 3.5 pounds. Here is a link to their Commercial Black page: http://www.mthealthy.com/store/948458/product/CB-sr
I ended up calling Southern States to let them know, and they were very angry. They paid for BR's (they got 150 in that shipment) and did not appreciate that the hatchery had slipped CB's into the batch. Also, the woman I spoke to at SS said she remembers that shipment, that she had noticed there were quite a few with the brown around their eyes and that they were smaller than the rest...some were solid black with no brown around their eyes. So they mixed quite a lot of the CB's with the BR's. She plans on calling the hatchery and getting to the bottom of it, and also said she's going to look into different hatcheries for next year.
ANY information about this breed will be greatly appreciated!
Here are pics of the chicks...at 1 day and 4 weeks. They look exactly like barred rocks except for the brown around their eyes:
Ok, so I asked on here (two different threads) if anyone could help me identify my chicks...I got them from Southern States, and they were supposed to be Barred Rocks (they "only" had RIR's, BR's, some turkeys and some ducks). Two of my six that I picked out had brown around their eyes. I thought perhaps they were a BR mix, but no one could confirm for me.
I called the Southern States I got the chicks from and asked what the name of the hatchery was they used. They told me Mt. Healthy in Ohio. So I called the hatchery and after speaking to someone, sent an email with pictures of my two chicks...at 1 day old and 4 weeks old. The woman called me back a few hours later and told me they are NOT Barred Rocks, that they are Commercial Blacks.
Does anyone know anything about this breed? My chicks are 4 weeks old, and I had intended on only having Barred Rocks. Now I have two of this Commercial Black breed and I don't know what to expect in behavior! Also, I'm pretty good at sexing BR's, but I don't know how to sex Commercial Blacks.
The only information they gave me about the breed is that they are mixed with a bunch of different breeds, they lay brown eggs, they are high egg producers (bred to be that) with an average of 350-450 eggs per year, and that they are slightly smaller than a Barred Rock, with an average weight around 3.5 pounds. Here is a link to their Commercial Black page: http://www.mthealthy.com/store/948458/product/CB-sr
I ended up calling Southern States to let them know, and they were very angry. They paid for BR's (they got 150 in that shipment) and did not appreciate that the hatchery had slipped CB's into the batch. Also, the woman I spoke to at SS said she remembers that shipment, that she had noticed there were quite a few with the brown around their eyes and that they were smaller than the rest...some were solid black with no brown around their eyes. So they mixed quite a lot of the CB's with the BR's. She plans on calling the hatchery and getting to the bottom of it, and also said she's going to look into different hatcheries for next year.
ANY information about this breed will be greatly appreciated!
Here are pics of the chicks...at 1 day and 4 weeks. They look exactly like barred rocks except for the brown around their eyes:
