Newbie chicken-mama with mixed chicks

[RavenEh]

Hi Everyone,

The chicks I got from a hobby breeder who said they easter egger mixes. When they were little they looked like the pics I found of easter eggers but now - well, it seems like over night they have developed quite a bit of colouring and unique feathers. None of them look alike - the only one I am sure about is the leghorn (for obvious reasons) and we were told he was likely a rooster - what do you think? Everything I've found points to him being a rooster, but he shows some hen-like qualities (for instance, when the chicks are cold they all nestle under him and he spreads out so they can fit).

I'm hoping some of you experienced chicken owners can help me determine breeds and/or genders. I love the colours, and I think I may have two roosters but it is so hard to tell!

Thank you!! I know it's hard to sex them at this age but I'm just SO curious to know what I've got - especially as they are changing so much these days I'm sure it must be noticeable by now! To my untrained eye - I see one rooster, 5 hens or maybe 2 roosters (grey chick in corner of second pic has a bigger crown that the others the same age). The leghorn is 6 weeks old and the rest are 5ish week old.

I've attached a bunch of pics so hopefully some of them will help. There are only six chicks (one leghorn, one black chick, two grey chicks - on is darker grey than the other, two brown chicks - one is solid brown with blond around the eye and the other is speckled shades of brown).

 

[RavenEh]

I've been reading through the other posts in this forum and now I'm thinking my leghorn isn't a leghorn at all because he has black on his back...any ideas? Thanks!

 

[rubbleanddebris]

My guess on the white one would be rooster. But its only a guess based on the comb and wattle, I'm no expert. The striped chicken looks like a barred rock to me.

Congrats on the birds! Welcome to the obsession. Haha.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Hi Everyone,

The chicks I got from a hobby breeder who said they easter egger mixes. When they were little they looked like the pics I found of easter eggers but now - well, it seems like over night they have developed quite a bit of colouring and unique feathers. None of them look alike - the only one I am sure about is the leghorn (for obvious reasons) and we were told he was likely a rooster - what do you think? Everything I've found points to him being a rooster, but he shows some hen-like qualities (for instance, when the chicks are cold they all nestle under him and he spreads out so they can fit).

I'm hoping some of you experienced chicken owners can help me determine breeds and/or genders. I love the colours, and I think I may have two roosters but it is so hard to tell!

Thank you!! I know it's hard to sex them at this age but I'm just SO curious to know what I've got - especially as they are changing so much these days I'm sure it must be noticeable by now! To my untrained eye - I see one rooster, 5 hens or maybe 2 roosters (grey chick in corner of second pic has a bigger crown that the others the same age). The leghorn is 6 weeks old and the rest are 5ish week old.

I've attached a bunch of pics so hopefully some of them will help. There are only six chicks (one leghorn, one black chick, two grey chicks - on is darker grey than the other, two brown chicks - one is solid brown with blond around the eye and the other is speckled shades of brown).

The black ones are Australorps, the striped ones are Barred Plymouth Rocks, and the white one is a Colombian Rock (and it is definitely a cockerel).

 

[RavenEh]

Thanks for your responses - I've been looking around for articles on comb development and if they're be trusted...I have mostly roosters! They're 6 weeks old now, and all but one have combs developing. My black chick has no comb to speak of...and what is there is nothing like the others...its flat. The black and brown speckled one (my Harriet) has what looks like a crinkled bumpy line - the rest are all the spikey comb.

The two barred rock pattern chicks (I was told they were sexlinks by the breeder) both have comparable combs at I think they're roosters for sure. One of them is fighting with Butterscotch all the time. The other reddish one with light around the eye is very sweet, but has a comb developing the same as the barred rock chicks - so she's probably a roo too.

I guess I have to wait for them to crow or lay, but I'm pretty disappointed that it looks like almost all of them are roosters!!