Sex link identification help

fatcatx

Songster
8 Years
Apr 7, 2013
601
163
217
Northern California
A week ago I picked up what are supposed to be a couple of gold sex links from the feed store. They reached in and grabbed two. When I got home and compared the two, they had some very different characteristics so I'm wonderful if I ended up with a different breed altogether. Chick #1 has smaller wings, reddish fluff and more uniform colored fluff, and had no tail feathers when I got them. Chick #2 has wings that were fully feathered and long and a tail sprouting. Also striping is evident on the body but you have to lift the wings To See it. Right now at 3 weeks the comb size is small and the same size on both. Which is the gold sex link and any help on what The other chick might be? Not sure if there was a mistake at the store or the hatchery.
 
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Chick #1

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Anyone have any thoughts or educated guesses? My best guess is these are a red and gold sex link. Is the reddish one red enough to be a RIR? Does anyone know why they would feather out so differently?
 
Anyone have any thoughts or educated guesses? My best guess is these are a red and gold sex link. Is the reddish one red enough to be a RIR? Does anyone know why they would feather out so differently?
Feed stores are famous for mixing up the chick bins, but these do appear to be sex links. They start to feather in white on the wings and then develop the more golden red coloring. Female chicks often have the stripes on the back. Side view photos of the chicks in better lighting would be helpful, but does look like you got sex link pullets. :)
Second one may be a cockerel, now looking closer at the down color, they are more yellow.
 
Follow up for posterity. Now that they are getting mature feathers, they both appear to be golds. I am curious if anyone knows enough about the crosses to know which produces the striped version of the gold sex link?

These chick presumably came from the same hatchery but looked different and feathered out in very different sequence. Is this the result of different breed parent stock or something else?
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Now that they are getting mature feathers, they both appear to be golds. I am curious if anyone knows enough about the crosses to know which produces the striped version of the gold sex link?

These chick presumably came from the same hatchery but looked different and feathered out in very different sequence. Is this the result of different breed parent stock or something else?

Variations are normal.

They are bred to be color-sexable as baby chicks, and to be good layers.
I think the breeders just ignore any traits that do not affect those points. So the adult color does not matter to them.
 

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