Sumatra roo crossed with Wyandotte hens

[Smileybans]

My sister has a fancy little Sumatra rooster. Her hens are Wyandotte and appenzeller spitzhauben. I hatched some of the eggs from both the hens and the chicks came out looking like this.

The pictures are blurry because I had to zoom in so much with my phone camera. I’m wondering if anyone knows what these chicks might turn out looking like. Two out of the five that hatched have black skin. I think those are the Sumatra x A.Spitzhauben. I can try to get better pictures, if needed, when I have a helper to hold the chicks.

 

[LaFleche]

You may want to clean out the wood chips from the chick feeder, as they will stay hungry if all the feed is covered by chips.

Raising the feeder and waterer by placing them on cutting boards or similar will help to keep them clean and ready for use. The average height should be the chicks back.

Regarding the future appearance of the Sumatra X: I would expect them to be black if the Sumatra rooster was black..

 

[Smileybans]

You may want to clean out the wood chips from the chick feeder, as they will stay hungry if all the feed is covered by chips.

Raising the feeder and waterer by placing them on cutting boards or similar will help to keep them clean and ready for use. The average height should be the chicks back.

Regarding the future appearance of the Sumatra X: I would expect them to be black if the Sumatra rooster was black..

Thank you. I did clean them after taking the pictures but I couldn’t think of how to keep them clean. I’ll find something to set them on.

 

[LaFleche]

Thank you. I did clean them after taking the pictures but I couldn’t think of how to keep them clean. I’ll find something to set them on.

You could also use some bricks or similar.

 

[Smileybans]

You could also use some bricks or similar.

I turned some Tupperware upside down and that seems to be working out. I did that with a batch of chicks a couple months ago but then switched the bedding. I just switched back to the pine shavings and now I remember how much of a hassle the stuff is. It gets everywhere.

 

[Smileybans]

Regarding the future appearance of the Sumatra X: I would expect them to be black if the Sumatra rooster was black..

The rooster is all black. Pretty guy too.

 

[LaFleche]

I turned some Tupperware upside down and that seems to be working out. I did that with a batch of chicks a couple months ago but then switched the bedding. I just switched back to the pine shavings and now I remember how much of a hassle the stuff is. It gets everywhere.

Please, switch again to softwood shavings, as pine shavings can be harmful when used for chicks in a brooder with artificial heat source (fumes!).

 

[Smileybans]

Please, switch again to softwood shavings, as pine shavings can be harmful when used for chicks in a brooder with artificial heat source (fumes!).

Really? I thought it was cedar that was the problem. What do you mean by softwood shavings?

 

[LaFleche]

The confusion might be caused by the different languages, I apologize. Softwood would mean birch and similar for me here in Germany, while in the US it would include all kinds of coniferous woods as well (all kinds of short rotation trees).

I use the flakes (birchwood) for my chicks as they will not try to eat them, which can cause vere problems as they swell in the chick's crop and lead to crop blockage.

So, if the brooder ventilation is sufficient and you don't notice any problems, all should be well.

 

[Smileybans]

The chicks are 7 weeks old now and I have a variety of comb types. But I am confused about how I have gotten straight combs. As far as I know the hens are appenzeller spithaubens, Wyandotte, and maybe buff orpington (where the straight comb came from?). The rooster is a Sumatra. That’s the only rooster she has and I got unlabeled eggs from her. So I’m not sure which chick is which. I have at least two boys and maybe a third. Two with large straight combs and one with a small red pea comb.