So many little blue/grey fluffy butts. How to ID breeds? Are they Marans, Andalusians, Orpingtons? Help!

[Sooner Magnolia]

We just got in 19 chicks from Meyer Hatchery. 16 assorted rare pullets, 4 of the adopt me late hatchers, and one meal maker (white leghorn I think). I think I have some lavender orpington and some look like maybe blue marans, but are there easy ways to tell if they don't have leg feathering? I'll add some pics, but don't want to make anybody look at all of them LOL.

 

[Sooner Magnolia]

This one has a lot of grey on the back. Clean legs I think.

 

[Sooner Magnolia]

Maran?

 

[Sooner Magnolia]

lavender orpington?

 

[tizabel_]

Hmmm I’ve only ever had orpingtons before but to me it looks like you have some lavender orps in the lot. Sorry I can’t help with the other ones.

 

[Sooner Magnolia]

Thanks. Didn't mean to post the last one. I think white Cochin.

 

[Sooner Magnolia]

This one is very pale colored. Almost white except the face.

 

[WVBirdsAndBees]

We just did this a few months ago from Meyer as well. We had 13 rares and 2 GLWs. It's fun to try to guess breeds this early but it can be tough. At 13 weeks I'm just now feeling confident I know what all of ours are.

For what it's worth, our lavender orpingtons did look a lot like a few of yours. Worth noting that it's hard to tell the difference between a true lavender and light colored blues since Meyer has both. Our blue andalusian looked similar as a chick but was smaller and the difference in body shape became clearer as they grew.

We had 3 dark chipmunks like one in your group photo. Ended up with 2 barnevelders and a partridge rock.

Really tough to tell early on with the black ones. We had 2 who ended up being an olive egger and jersey giant. But Meyer also has minorcas, black orpingtons, etc.

Good luck with the beautiful chicks. With patience, this site, and the chick ID page on Meyer's site, you'll get them figured out. Keep us posted. I'm curious about the first and last individual photos.

 

[Sooner Magnolia]

We just did this a few months ago from Meyer as well. We had 13 rares and 2 GLWs. It's fun to try to guess breeds this early but it can be tough. At 13 weeks I'm just now feeling confident I know what all of ours are.

For what it's worth, our lavender orpingtons did look a lot like a few of yours. Worth noting that it's hard to tell the difference between a true lavender and light colored blues since Meyer has both. Our blue andalusian looked similar as a chick but was smaller and the difference in body shape became clearer as they grew.

We had 3 dark chipmunks like one in your group photo. Ended up with 2 barnevelders and a partridge rock.

Really tough to tell early on with the black ones. We had 2 who ended up being an olive egger and jersey giant. But Meyer also has minorcas, black orpingtons, etc.

Good luck with the beautiful chicks. With patience, this site, and the chick ID page on Meyer's site, you'll get them figured out. Keep us posted. I'm curious about the first and last individual photos.

Thanks. I do have a lot of them figured out including a probable Barnevelder. We’ve had those before. Wonderful birds! We have a great variety for sure. I was mainly wondering if there is an easy way to distinguish the marans, Orpington, Andalusian breeds in general. Like if the legs are pink with grey they can’t be.......

 

[Hidrainja4]

Just to add to the confusion. I bought blue splash marans from Meyers this year and there was one that was totally clean leg and several and so few feathers on their legs you had to really look for them.
My blue splash marans had no yellowish down on them at all. They where a light to medium dark gray or smokey no yellow on their bellies. Some had faint copper highlights like a copper marans. They have a white soft foot pad. My Orpingtons were built chunkier than the Marans. I hope that helps.