Our mixed flock - too mixed to know gender?

[crossties]

This may be impossible because of the wide range of breed combinations, but if we could get an educated guess as to which chicks are pullets and which are roos, it would help my daughter's experiment for school. They are a VERY mixed flock mixed flock. Even their ages are mixed, we think. Their feathering-out definitely happened at different times. I get that this could just be because of the mixed breeds The littlest is probably a bantam after all, but is also younger. We were told they all hatched Jan 15. :/

According to their breeder, the parent stock is supposed to be pure and she has
Hens - RIR, Red sexlink, Barred rock, Americana and Jersey Giants and one leghorn

roosters she has a Road Island Red cross (who's boss roo) a black cochin bantam roo and then a juvenile Americana roo (that may or may not have been old enough to woo some ladies)

1- Cheep (has spent a considerable amount of time sleeping in hoodie front pockets,

2- Sunny

3- Whitewing

4- Mango (who is a bit of a spaz but very friendly)


5 and 6 - Shadow and Hawkeye. We can't figure out Shadow's feathers. They were always more black than Hawkeye's, and they took longer to come in, and now that they have they are sortof ragged looking. Both have been less interested in being held than the others.








7- Owlett is red laying down next to Sunny. Another cuddler.



Without question, we have more pics. these are just from a few minutes ago.

 

[BantamLover21]

This may be impossible because of the wide range of breed combinations, but if we could get an educated guess as to which chicks are pullets and which are roos, it would help my daughter's experiment for school. They are a VERY mixed flock mixed flock. Even their ages are mixed, we think. Their feathering-out definitely happened at different times. I get that this could just be because of the mixed breeds The littlest is probably a bantam after all, but is also younger. We were told they all hatched Jan 15. :/

According to their breeder, the parent stock is supposed to be pure and she has
Hens - RIR, Red sexlink, Barred rock, Americana and Jersey Giants and one leghorn

roosters she has a Road Island Red cross (who's boss roo) a black cochin bantam roo and then a juvenile Americana roo (that may or may not have been old enough to woo some ladies)


4- Mango (who is a bit of a spaz but very friendly)


5 and 6 - Shadow and Hawkeye. We can't figure out Shadow's feathers. They were always more black than Hawkeye's, and they took longer to come in, and now that they have they are sortof ragged looking. Both have been less interested in being held than the others.

These birds look like cockerels to me.

 

[Wyandottes7]

These birds look like cockerels to me.

I agree.

 

[donrae]

Agree with the above. The barred bird is for sure a male, with those parents he's a sex link.

 

[Michael OShay]

These birds look like cockerels to me.

I agree as well.

 

[crossties]

Thank you much, and I have a followup question....
the barred marking I am assuming is the give-away for the black ones. (Well, and the giant combs). What about #4, Mango? The comb is about the same as #3 and #7. Is it feather colors or shapes? Is there any likely parent combination that would give Mango that mottled look?

Also, would anyone be willing to venture a guess as to their ages? It will help my daughter with her lab report. Since they have been flying to the top of their coop since the end of January, I assume they are over 4 weeks old....

 

[donrae]

On Mango it's the coloring. Roosters are brighter, flashier, with splotchy coloring. Hens are more uniform color, drab, designed for camouflage. There are some threads here about sexing Easter eggers....your birds aren't necessarily EE, but the principles of sexing by color are the same. You or your daughter could research those threads and spend time looking at the pics to see the difference in color between genders.