Newbie with 4 Week Old Chicks

[Bethanymarie]

Hi, my name is Bethany and I just started my chicken journey this Saturday. We got 4 chicks from a farmer who free ranges the vast majority of his flock (which is mainly New Hampshires and Barred Rocks but also contains EE and a couple other breeds). So, I guess that leaves my chicks as very easily being mixed heritage. Supposedly they are all four weeks old and within a day or so of each other. Nugget is definitely the largest of the group and Pot Pie is the smallest. I tried to sex to the best of my abilities as we were selecting from a straight run, but I have no experience and was pretty overwhelmed at the entire experience. So, now that I've had them home a few days, I'm beginning to wonder what sort of breeds they may be as well as what others think their gender may be. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[PrudentPrepper]

Nugget and Fricassee look like Rhode Island Reds or New Hampshires, I would say Pullets at this point but it is too hard to tell right now.
Blackened looks like a Silver Laced Wyandotte without the lace and could very well be a cockerel but is still too hard to tell.
Pot Pie is a Barred Rock and my guess would be cockerel
Good Luck

 

[Bethanymarie]

Thanks. My kids favor Pot Pie and Blackened, so of course they'd be the Roos. Ha! We live in the city, so keeping them won't be an option.

 

[Michael OShay]

Nugget and Fricassee look like Production Reds. Fricassee looks like a pullet, but I would keep an eye on Nugget whose comb looks fairly large and quite a bright pink (although the picture is a bit blurry) for only 5 1/2 weeks. If that comb starts reddening up over the next few weeks, you have a cockerel. With due respect to PrudentPrepper, Blackened is not a Wyandotte with that single comb and those blackish pink legs. Blackened looks like it might be a Black Sex Link, and if so, its color marks it out as a pullet. However that comb looks quite large and pink for 5 1/2 weeks so I would keep a careful eye on it. If it reddens up over the next few weeks, Blackened is a cockerel and not a Black Sex Link. Are Pot Pies legs pinkish or yellow. They look pinkish to me but that could just be a trick of the lighting. If the legs are pinkish, then Pot Pie is a Cuckoo Marans. If the legs are yellow, then Pot Pie is a Barred Rock. Either way, given the large white bands in the barring and the large pink comb at 5 1/2 weeks, I think Pot Pie is a cockerel.

 

[PrudentPrepper]

It is still way too early to tell for sure and without others of the same variety to spot the differences between the roos and hens it will be even harder to figure it out. You probably won't know until they start vocalizing Don't give up hope.

Also, for clarity - I do not know what they are for sure, just guessing based on the breeds I have raised. I know the one isn't a Wyandotte, it just looks a lot like my silver laced without the lace pattern. I was also trying to figure out the breeds based on the original post and the varieties the farmer said he had, as he would know better than anyone.

 

[Rhodebar Lover]

Nugget and Fricassee look like Production Reds. Fricassee looks like a pullet, but I would keep an eye on Nugget whose comb looks fairly large and quite a bright pink (although the picture is a bit blurry) for only 5 1/2 weeks. If that comb starts reddening up over the next few weeks, you have a cockerel. With due respect to PrudentPrepper, Blackened is not a Wyandotte with that single comb and those blackish pink legs. Blackened looks like it might be a Black Sex Link, and if so, its color marks it out as a pullet. However that comb looks quite large and pink for 5 1/2 weeks so I would keep a careful eye on it. If it reddens up over the next few weeks, Blackened is a cockerel and not a Black Sex Link. Are Pot Pies legs pinkish or yellow. They look pinkish to me but that could just be a trick of the lighting. If the legs are pinkish, then Pot Pie is a Cuckoo Marans. If the legs are yellow, then Pot Pie is a Barred Rock. Either way, given the large white bands in the barring and the large pink comb at 5 1/2 weeks, I think Pot Pie is a cockerel.

I agree

 

[PrudentPrepper]

Also, it is easy to say that a bird is such and such a breed based off of characteristics it SHOULD have. But we need to keep in mind that not every breeders' line is going to look like every other line of the same bird. I have silver laced wyandottes that have a single comb and it is a well known fact that not all lines of wyandottes are bred for pure rose combs. Actually the lines that have single or rose combs are more fertile than the pure rose comb breeds. So, yes, while you can look at a bird and GUESS at what it might be based on characteristics that it SHOULD have- it doesn't mean it is so. Varieties can look amazingly different from breeder to breeder. Based on what the original poster said- the breeds the farmer she got them from had - I gave it my best go, but no one will no for sure except the breeder. Also, Michael O'Shay is right on Nugget - after a second look the comb is fairly distinguished for 4 weeks, s/he does look a lot like my RIRs that are roo's (posture/comb/even the tail feathers).

 

[Michael OShay]

Also, it is easy to say that a bird is such and such a breed based off of characteristics it SHOULD have. But we need to keep in mind that not every breeders' line is going to look like every other line of the same bird. I have silver laced wyandottes that have a single comb and it is a well known fact that not all lines of wyandottes are bred for pure rose combs. Actually the lines that have single or rose combs are more fertile than the pure rose comb breeds. So, yes, while you can look at a bird and GUESS at what it might be based on characteristics that it SHOULD have- it doesn't mean it is so. Varieties can look amazingly different from breeder to breeder. Based on what the original poster said- the breeds the farmer she got them from had - I gave it my best go, but no one will no for sure except the breeder. Also, Michael O'Shay is right on Nugget - after a second look the comb is fairly distinguished for 4 weeks, s/he does look a lot like my RIRs that are roo's (posture/comb/even the tail feathers).

I agree that a lot of Wyandottes fall short of the standard of perfection and occasionally one pops up with a single comb, but when a bird falls so far off the standard of perfection that it no longer resembles that breed then it can not be considered that breed. If Blackened's only deviation from a Wyandotte was the single comb, I would have no problem calling it a Wyandotte. However there are multiple diviations with Blackened other than just the comb; the most significant two being that Blackened does not have the yellow legs of a Wyandotte and its color pattern does not conform to any accepted color pattern of a Wyandotte. Just giving Blackened the eye ball test, it looks far more like a Black Sex Link than it does a Wyandotte.

 

[girlsnammo]

Bethany, when we get your big run set up we can go out and get you those 2 EE pullets. Don is fine with it, also Don is going to get a 50 ft roll of the hardware cloth for the 2 extra panels so whenever Jessie ain't busy he can swing by and ya'll can have the whole 150 ft roll. When he needs help putting it together let us know we have plenty of helpers and can have a work day after church instead of group maybe. Dinner and work sounds good to me.

 

[Bethanymarie]

Dorothy, thanks so much and tell Don thanks, too! That is super nice of you... I am blessed by awesome friends!