Rosemary, Jr -- Light Brahma dad and ????

[3KillerBs]

This is Rosemary, Jr -- a complete surprise that one of my broodies managed to conceal from me long enough to hatch it despite my attempts to diligently remove all eggs from both broodies daily. She must have Houdini-like skills at "palming" eggs in her wings (not to mention a VICIOUS bite (when not broody Noodle is my friendliest hen)).

The little surprise arrived in early August so is now 8-10 weeks old. Dad is a Light Brahma -- Marion (formerly Rosemary), and the little one is the spitting image of his/her father. Mother could be a Dark Brahma (unlikely -- both were broody but might have been Kiev's last egg before sitting (hatched by Noodle)), a Delaware, a Black Australorp, or a Black Langshan.

Any thoughts on which hen might have been the mother and whether its a boy or a girl?

 

[donrae]

I think it's a cockerel, but with the mixed comb it's hard to say for sure. It's got a lot of color, though....pullets this age usually are still flesh toned.

My top contenders for the momma are the dark Brahma and the Delaware, but there are cons to each. I have no idea how the color would be an a dark/light Brahma cross, but this doesn't seem outside the realm of possibility. The legs look fairly heavily feathered, which would be both Brahma parents, but if it's a male I'd expect it to have a more classic pea comb. If I'm right on gender

If the Delaware were the momma, I'd expect to see some barring in the hackle and tail feathers, and I'm not seeing any. But that color seems to mesh better.

I think the black on either the Aussie or the Langshan would have overridden the silver and you'd have gotten a black bird, or mostly black.

 

[BantamLover21]

I'm leaning towards cockerel.

 

[Wyandottes7]

I'm thinking cockerel.

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

X4 on it being a roo. I also must agree with Donrea (always the best course of action anyway LOL) that the DBrahma is likely the mother. There will probably continue to be more black leakage as it continues to feather out. My half Brahmas rarely have that much feathering on their feet.