Roosters?

[Kayla's Lunch]

I ordered chicks from Tractor Supply/Hoovers Hatchery. They shipped on Wednesday and arrived on Friday. They are supposed to be a mix of Sapphire Gems, Sapphire Splashes, and Sapphire Olive Eggers. I have no idea who is which breed.

Two seem to have some light color on their heads and I am worried that they are little roosters. Anyone know if they are? Thanks!

 

[Aunt Angus]

I'm not an expert, but I think sapphires are not an actual breed, but rather a hybrid. I think. And I also think they are sex linked. I also think that some have spots on their heads as day olds. They will lose all of that when they feather out. In other words, you've got pullets.

 

[Kayla's Lunch]

What breed do you think these are? Any idea?

 

[Aunt Angus]

Sapphires are hybrids, so not actual breeds.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I want to say they're Plymouth Rocks mixed with another breed. But I'm not an expert by any means imaginable. I'll do a quick Google search.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Yep. Plymouth Rocks. A black Rock with a barred Rock. Plymouth Rocks are great birds!

 

[NatJ]

I ordered chicks from Tractor Supply/Hoovers Hatchery. They shipped on Wednesday and arrived on Friday. They are supposed to be a mix of Sapphire Gems, Sapphire Splashes, and Sapphire Olive Eggers. I have no idea who is which breed.

I went and looked at Hoover's website.

The Sapphire Splash should splash in color,
The Sapphire Gem should be blue in color,
and the Sapphire Olive Eggers will probably have a small crest on their head when they grow their feathers.

All of those should become fairly obvious as they get their feathers and grow up.

https://hoovershatchery.com/sapphiresplash.html
https://hoovershatchery.com/sapphiregem.html
https://hoovershatchery.com/sapphireoliveegger.html

Two seem to have some light color on their heads and I am worried that they are little roosters. Anyone know if they are?

I cannot find any information either way on Hoover's website.

All of these chickens are produced by crossing various combinations of breeds.
Some crosses would produce males with light color on their heads, but some other crosses could produce both genders with light color on their heads-- and the website does not give enough information for me to tell what crosses are actually involved.

So I cannot say whether you have male chicks or not.
You may have to wait a few weeks, or up to a few months, to be sure.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Aren't they sex linked? I could be way off, but I read that elsewhere on BYC and on the interwebs, and we all know the interwebs is always 100% reliable...

 

[EmmaRainboe]

I ordered chicks from Tractor Supply/Hoovers Hatchery. They shipped on Wednesday and arrived on Friday. They are supposed to be a mix of Sapphire Gems, Sapphire Splashes, and Sapphire Olive Eggers. I have no idea who is which breed. View attachment 2870719View attachment 2870720Two seem to have some light color on their heads and I am worried that they are little roosters. Anyone know if they are? Thanks!

Did you order straight run?

Sapphire gems are definitely sexlinked, I believe all three are. I'm not 100% sure, though. I don't keep track of all the hatchery "hybrids."

But if they are all indeed sexlinks like I suspect, then any with spots on their heads are male.

SGs are a type of black sexlink, crossing a solid male over a barred female, resulting in barred males and solid females.

 

[TheOddOneOut]

Yes, sex linked as in : Males have barring, (which means head spots) and females don't.
Sapphire splash will be whitish gray in color.
Sapphire Gems will be gray. Male sapphire gems will have barring and head spots.
Sapphire olive eggers will be gray. with crests.