New to this forum, am I in the right place?

[SilverBirds]

Ok then. Thank you. I think tonight's performance taught me not to hold out hope on that white one .... is - ahem "he" - a "Sapphire Splash"? I bought the fertile eggs from a breeder who specializes in very colorful eggs but what went under the mama was a mixture and I have no idea what emerged...

If he came from a breeder he could very well be something else. What does specializes in colorful eggs mean? To me that sounds like he's just making mixes. I wasn't sure where you got them, so I just assumed one of the major hatcheries and Sapphire Splashes are one of the newer hybrids.

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

Gosh - just erased a looooong thread; serves me right.

Thank you for offering to sex my babies! There are five. I'll go through them light-to-dark. But some are more ambiguous than others! They first hatched on July 10, so just under 8 weeks now; they're huge. Mama still stands by them.


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Here you can see the crests of the two lightest. The whitish one is "Abyza" or more likely "Abyzo". But I am not sure about him/er. S/he's been seen chest-bumping for a long while with the greyish one, but I also saw her/him mounting the greyish one. Both their crests are similar and they are a similar size:

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The grey one is undeniably male. Evidence: https://tinyurl.com/voicecrck -- I cannot stop laughing at this thing.

The white one was seen locking eyes with Farro, the very large black-brown one coming up next. It was hysterical. The whitish one ruffed up the feathers on its neck and the two of them were like north and south-going Zaks. Neither would budge. Even though Farro is pretty easy-going ordinarily, just lets everyone be. this whitish one though.... wow. Likes to get into spats.

Both the grey and white can be aggressive around food they cannot control themselves over (read: black sesame seeds) - peck that hand that feeds them. It's very amusing.

So here comes the black ones. Farro is first up, huge and I think because the crest is big, is also a male?! So many males! And the males are so sweet... the females seem quieter but they are less endearing, not snuggly.

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S/he has incredibly silly feet!!
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Then comes Teff and Emmer. I think these are my only two hens?

Their crests are smaller and they hate it when I pick them up, or at least they put up a huge fight and then they settle right in:

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One has slightly fluffy feet, the other not. Teff has two whispy white feathers on her breast:

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And Emmer is all-black...

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I didn't even bother trying to pick her up. Now that I'm "analyzing" them so carefully, it seems pretty obvious two have qualitatively smaller crests, smaller personalities, just alike in two groups.

I am never going to be able to choose between these roo's!!! Is there a chance the white one (or black-brown) is not male?

Thanks for looking at my cuties! This has been a lot of fun but as I knew the resulting Sophie's Choice is going to be awful. A friend has been telling me about a stew that tastes particularly and especially good with rooster, not hen and I can't even. With friends like this....

Two or three roosters. The Maran looking one (feathery toe guy) and the Plymouth Barred Rock (grey dude) are very male. You should get some auto or sexlink chicks, if you can afford it. Then you won’t need to get rid of the roosters, because you will have ideally 20 or 30 more confirmed hens.

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

Ok then. Thank you. I think tonight's performance taught me not to hold out hope on that white one .... is - ahem "he" - a "Sapphire Splash"? I bought the fertile eggs from a breeder who specializes in very colorful eggs but what went under the mama was a mixture and I have no idea what emerged...

If you want colorful eggs, keep the Sapphire for sure. He’s the white one. You should breed him, and any daughters of his should have green, mint, or brown eggs depending on what he is bred to.

 

[SilverBirds]

If you want colorful eggs, keep the Sapphire for sure. He’s the white one. You should breed him, and any daughters of his should have green, mint, or brown eggs depending on what he is bred to.

Not positive he is a Sapphire if he came from a breeder. Even if he is, they lay brown eggs.

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

Not positive he is a Sapphire if he came from a breeder. Even if he is, they lay brown eggs.

Oh. Guess Saoirse isn’t pure.

 

[WingItRanch]

What does "double white barring" mean please?

The females will have alternating stripes like black, white, black, white.

The males will have black, white, white, black, white, white.

So the females look much darker. Also, the comb doesn't develop on the female Barred Rock until they are closer to laying age. Around 20 weeks old. Give or take a few weeks.

 

[Ridgerunner]

"Abyza" or more likely "Abyzo".

The grey one

Farro

Three boys

 

[Mrs. K]

That is what I am seeing too. The White one, the barred one and the black one with the feet.

 

[aliris]

That is what I am seeing too. The White one, the barred one and the black one with the feet.

The grey one was practicing their voice for a while but I haven't heard it in many days; the white one started in today though. And the white one's neck is _so long_!! I guess that's a thing too. So - mystery seems kinda solved...