Question on how chicks are bred

[servingChrist247]

I had a hen lay some chicks. I took them away from her because the cat was killing them one by one. I raised them from a couple days old and now they have been changing colors. She is a Nanking and I have a Rhode Island Rooster. I figured they would have a mixture of the two. I looked up the breeds on the Backyard Chickens and found out that I have 2 Plymouth Rock hens, two that look like RIR, a Nanking roo and a gray colored one. I don't want to sound uneducated when I ask...how does this happen?

I know it couldn't be mis-breeding. We live on a dead end road and there are no other roosters. Thank you to anyone that can clear this up for me.

 

[hcammack]

did she sit on just her own eggs? or other breeds to?

Henry

 

[Heather J]

Could she and the rooster be mixed breeds? If so, some of their other genetics might be coming through on the chicks (like a red-headed child coming from blond parents--it happens).

 

[LilPeeps]

She probably hatched out eggs from all the hens, that's why you're seeing different colored chicks.

Do you have pics of your birds?