Possible breeds of 4 6wk old chicks

[teeville5]

Of my 19 chicks, these 4 have me wondering as to their breed. Every time I think I know, I see a photo of another chick that makes me unsure. They all came from a 'special sale' bin at TSC when they got their newest chicks and were mixed with all the different breeds of week old chicks. I tried to get shots of both their sides. Any thoughts?

Chick 1

Chick 2

Chick 3

Chick 4

 

[florida chickenz]

rhode island reds

 

[teeville5]

All of them? I'm a newbie at raising chicks and I thought because the feathers on each one were different that they were different breeds. They were even different colors when week olds. Chick 1&2 were yellow and chicks 3&4 were more orange/brown.

 

[Barrdwing]

What intrigues me about these kids is the unusual mix of feathering. #2 almost looks like it's got some mottled feathers coming in (black bar and white tip) and #3 has those curious browner feathers with darker patterning over the upper part of the wing and back. Of course a lot would depend on whether these are baby feathers being replaced by the red feathering, or not. I've had birds change their mind between the first set of baby feathers and the next, and alter their coloring quite a bit.

The other thing that's curious is the fact that two had yellow down and two had reddish down. I wish I could tell you whether that was significant or not; I've been studying color genetics in our birds for the past few years, trying to figure out how it all works. There can be some variance in down color even within a breed. I'd be very curious to see how these kids feather out, ultimately!

 

[Celtic Chick]

Quote:
My thoughts exactly. The darker feathers mixed in threw me. They must be some production hybrid. My production reds looked similar at that age, but had white feathers mixed in as opposed to the dark ones, but these chicks have both. Interesting.
As for the different chick coloring,

Someone way more knowledgable than I is sure to give you an accurate response.

Please PM me when you know the answer. I'm intrigued. And curious to see how they turn out.

 

[CrazyFowlFreak]

My vote is for Production Reds.

They look just like mine.