One of these things is not like the others

[Foose4string]

TSC had two bins full of pullets last week. One with white leghorns and the other with Red Sex links. They were blowing out pullets for 49 cents each. Couldn't pass up that deal! The Red links looked to be a little over a week old and the Leghorns just a few days old. I decided to get 2 leghorns and 4 sex links. I arrived at the store close to closing time and the girl working reminded us they were about to close. Once I made up my mind to get the birds she quickly scooped 4 links along with the leghorns and put them into the box. I didn't pick nor did I really feel I needed to. Both bins appeared to contain what they said they were. After I got them home I noticed 3 of the red links look similar - sort of buff with the red/brown stripes on their backs. Those 3 are quickly developing their wing and tail feathers and look like red or gold sex link pullets to me. 1 of them does not have the stripes, much shorter wing feathers, hardly any tails feather yet, and slightly darker in color overall.

The chick at the top looks very similar to the other 2 Sex links but the one on the bottom is the oddball. Not sure if it is a sex link or different breed entirely. I'd hopefully like to rule out it being a cockerel. Wouldn't a red sex link cockerel be much lighter in color? Or, is this possibly still a red sex link pullet derived from a different cross than the others? Btw, this is not the tote they a brooding in. I just separated them into this one to take the photo.

 

[Chicken Girl1]

Hmm, I would post pictures as it grew to see what it is. The wing feathering appears to be for red or buff in the picture, is it in real life?

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

TSC had two bins full of pullets last week. One with white leghorns and the other with Red Sex links. They were blowing out pullets for 49 cents each. Couldn't pass up that deal! The Red links looked to be a little over a week old and the Leghorns just a few days old. I decided to get 2 leghorns and 4 sex links. I arrived at the store close to closing time and the girl working reminded us they were about to close. Once I made up my mind to get the birds she quickly scooped 4 links along with the leghorns and put them into the box. I didn't pick nor did I really feel I needed to. Both bins appeared to contain what they said they were. After I got them home I noticed 3 of the red links look similar - sort of buff with the red/brown stripes on their backs. Those 3 are quickly developing their wing and tail feathers and look like red or gold sex link pullets to me. 1 of them does not have the stripes, much shorter wing feathers, hardly any tails feather yet, and slightly darker in color overall.
The chick at the top looks very similar to the other 2 Sex links but the one on the bottom is the oddball. Not sure if it is a sex link or different breed entirely. I'd hopefully like to rule out it being a cockerel. Wouldn't a red sex link cockerel be much lighter in color? Or, is this possibly still a red sex link pullet derived from a different cross than the others? Btw, this is not the tote they a brooding in. I just separated them into this one to take the photo.

I'm not an expert on sex-link genetics, but that chick doesn't seem like it would have the right coloring to be a Red Sex Link cockerel. A cockerel should be primarily white with some buff or red coloring (Google "red sex link cockerel" and view the images), and your chick looks buff/red to me. My guess is that it's just a pullet that's a little slower to feather than the others.

This article has information and an explanation of the genetics involved that you may find helpful: http://countrysidenetwork.com/daily/poultry/chickens-101/understanding-sex-link-hybrid-chickens/.

 

[Foose4string]

Thanks for the link. I am no expert either but I have read tons about sex links over the years and know more about them than a normal person should. The more I read the more it muddies the water in my mind though. Since there are no hard fast rules other than knowing ( in this case) red male x silver female = down sexable birds it's hard to quantify what specific crosses have been made. Sure, the hatchery puts a generic blurb about what cross was used to make their 'Red Dynamite Super Golden Cackling Queen'. Descriptions are not alway consistent among hatcheries even when using the same hybrid name. Since there is no standard or regulation for hybrids they can call it whatever they want. Not to mention some often cite Leghorn as part of the parentage which I presume is to help achieve desired production.

What has me more stumped is why one of my "red" pullets is different than the other 3. I wonder if TSC had two types of sex links mixed together or if this one is just slow to feather like you said. The coloring is slightly different too. Last I heard, the TSC's in our area were ordering from Townline. They offer the ISA Brown and what they call Red Cross sex links. I can only assume it's one of those, but who knows? Townline doesn't list gray silkies on their site but I know there was a tub of those the day I bought my pullets. So, who knows where the stock came from or who Townline may have outsourced to keep up with TSC demand?