Not pure Barred Rock?

[MontanaDolphin]

I picked up six barred rock chicks three weeks ago from southern states. I picked the two chicks in question cuz they were just so darn cute! Anyhoo, I am going to assume they are not pure BR's because of the brown around their eyes. Am I correct? If so, any idea what they are mixed with?

At a day old:





One week old:





3 weeks old:





I don't know if they are pullets or cockerels...they were straight run and I picked them out myself since my first batch of chicks (now a few days shy of 8 weeks) were picked out by the lady at the store, and I ended up with 4 cockerels and 2 pullets. She went by the leg wash. Obviously that trick doesn't work anymore LOL. So I feather sexed when I picked mine out. And yes, I know you can't do that with barred rocks, but since the other sexing tricks no longer apply I figured why not? I may get lucky

So what do y'all think? Mixed chicks? What kind? Thanks!

 

[keesmom]

They look to have rose combs?

 

[teach1rusl]

Could they be dominiques?? Doms have rose combs...

 

[MontanaDolphin]

I've never seen a "rose comb" before, but I don't think so...here's some pics of their heads:

CHICK 1:









CHICK 2:










And yes...one chick has a green spot on its head, and one has a blue spot...I used food coloring to mark them so I could tell them apart.

 

[MontanaDolphin]

Bump!

Anyone???

 

[teach1rusl]

Well, their combs look "normal" in your most recent shots. If they're truly mixed, there's no way of knowing what they're mixed with. And if they actually are mixed, it might just be a mix of barred and partridge rock??? At this point they just look like regular barred rocks though...

 

[Silkiesandco]

They look like pure barred rocks right now. Barred rock females have a small white spot on their head, whereas a male has a larger more irregular shaped dot.

 

[MontanaDolphin]

I called the hatchery that southern states got them from and sent an email with pics at their rquest. They called me a few hours later and told me thet are not br's, they are Commercial Blacks. They said they are bred for egg laying and lay 350 to 400 eggs per year and that they are mixed from a bunch of different breeds. They said they must have gotten mixed in withthe barred rock shipment by mistake.

 

[teach1rusl]

Huhhh...never heard of commercial blacks.

 

[MontanaDolphin]

Yeah, neither have I. Here's a link to the hatchery that SS used, and the page where the "Commercial Blacks" are found:

http://www.mthealthy.com/store/948458/product/CB-sr