Strange Feather Color in Chick *better pics added*

[pappy1264]

oh, ok. I looked up barred rocks, white or yellow 'dot' on head is normal, not sex related. (Although a friend saw their pics, thinks one of them is a roo, and also my salmon favorelle...we will see, I guess. They are only 2 weeks old, so can't tell yet or at least I can't! lol) Thank you.

 

[ohiochickenmom]

Well, for our chicks from TSC what they (TSC) are saying now is that these are pullets but they are white leghorn pullets even though they were labeled and sold as red sex links!!! I definitely learned, know your chick colors before you go!!

 

[Mylied]

White leghorns are all white. Amberlinks get some brown on them. White plymouth rocks are all white. Red sex links seem to turn dark and light brown speckled. My older four are white plymouth rocks. I found that out when they started laying brown eggs. I thought they were leghorns up to that point. My half grown chicks are amberlinks (or at least 3 are). They started off yellow as chicks and then 3 started with just a brown feather or two. One has a bunch of brown now, one has some sprinkling on the wings, and one just has a couple brown tail feathers. The smallest 6 are red sex linked. They started out chipmonk colored and now have blotches of dark brown and light brown. They're still in their teenage phase, so not sure how they'll end up looking fully feathered.

If you ended up with the white plymouth rocks, I've got to say my 4 are the sweetest ever. They follow me around the yard and come running when I whistle. One of the bigger chicks got out of their section of the run and the chickens were chasing her. All I did was whistle from the porch and the immedietly stopped and ran up to the fence so I could go in to put the chick back.

 

[heronz]

I agree about them possibly being red sex link males.
All of mine started out white and got color like that in the same place.
Over time they got more and more color.

 

[heronz]

My red sex link cockerel.

 

[Mylied]

He's a handsome guy, Heronz. My chicks, which are the pics in the beginning of the thread, are definitely not sex linked males. Thanks to a tip through a private message, I ended up taking them off craigslist and hanging on for a while longer. They are all pullets. They're about 2 months old now. Hopefully Ohiochickmom has all pullets too.

 

[heronz]

Thank goodness.
That would have been quite a disappointment.

 

[debid]

My red sex link cockerel.

Pappy1264, see the yellow head and neck? That's what I was talking about. Pullets don't get that two-tone look.

 

[LebanonChknLuvr]

Here's a better pic of the chick with the brown feathers. There's a bit of mess on the tips of the feathers, so just ignore that. Another chick with just a little bit of brown feathers on the wings. It's the same on both wings. This one is rather aggressive and has gone after my hand, whereas the one above chick will sit happily in my lap.

These were Amber Links, right? Most of them if not all ended up being pullets? I've had TSC Amber Links. They all looked just like these and we're all pullets...thank goodness!

 

[Mylied]

Yes, all pullets and we assumed they were amberlinks.