Second Time Hatching — shipped & backyard eggs

[TheAlrightyGina]

Kind of curious... is it possible to tell my oliver egger’s gender? Meyer’s says they make the cross with a brown egg layer hen and a blue egg layer rooster. The lil guy hatched from a brown speckled egg and they have a chipmunk pattern down. Some of the pictures from reviews looks like the dad was a legbar, but Meyer’s says they have different breeding programs for their olive eggers. So, I don’t know, honestly. Genetics are weird. Guesses on possible parents? Right now I’m kind of thinking welsummer x legbar

The 'eye liner' does look a lot like a Welsummer, and if it is you may be in luck. That strong of a line can indicate female in Welsummers. As for the father...that's pretty up in the air. I have a Meyer Olive Egger myself; she looked like a Barred Rock chick when I got her but feathered out cuckoo, so I'm pretty sure her dark egg layer dam was a Cuckoo Maran (maybe Golden, she's got a golden toned head and neck). She's single combed though, so her sire was probably Legbar, if I had to guess.

 

[aart]

Right now I’m kind of thinking welsummer x legbar

Possible.......but the eyeliner/head triangle looks male to me.
4-6 weeks you'll know more.

 

[cluckingheck]

Possible.......but the eyeliner/head triangle looks male to me.
4-6 weeks you'll know more.

with my limited understanding of chicken genetics, wouldnt the daughters look like the dads? i only know a black male over a barred female will produce barred boys and black girls but I don’t know if that’ll still apply to the welsummer x legbar if that’s what my oliver egger is

 

[aart]

i only know a black male over a barred female will produce barred boys and black girls

Yes, but chicks would not be chipmunk striped, and males would have white head spots.

I don’t know if that’ll still apply to the welsummer x legbar if that’s what my oliver egger is

Chipmunk striped chicks(at least Wellies and CLB) will have females with dark and sharply defined eyeliner and head triangles....males would be lighter and fuzzy edged.

 

[cluckingheck]

Yes, but chicks would not be chipmunk striped, and males would have white head spots.

Chipmunk striped chicks(at least Wellies and CLB) will have females with dark and sharply defined eyeliner and head triangles....males would be lighter and fuzzy edged.

i think I have my answer. so, i guess back to the waiting game

 

[aart]

i think I have my answer. so, i guess back to the waiting game

I wasn't sure if the Wellie CLB cross would hold with that technique, good to know.
Yep, 4-6 weeks.

 

[cluckingheck]

called it on the welsummer egg and opened it up. hadn’t even absorbed the amniotic fluid yet and it had real bad cross beak. so, it wouldn’t have done good even if it had made it to hatch

 

[cluckingheck]

Percy’s feathers are already starting to come in

 

[aart]

Percy’s feathers are already starting to come in

They are almost 'born' with those.....they grow so fast!

 

[cluckingheck]

They are almost 'born' with those.....they grow so fast!

Leghorns and leghorn crosses usually get theirs in really fast too. I always thought it was funny chicks’ wing feathers are the first thing to grow in