Three pullets ... I hope

[Kev]

Glad you're having a pretty good attitude about this situation. As the farmer on here said, most are honest... just not this person the birds came from.

I agree with others about these new birds, black one does look mixed with leghorn. Red one seems to be production red or red sex link mix.

Agreed mixes still are good birds and with these being from production breeds, they should still be good layers.

p.s. maybe good idea to worm and dust them just in case...?

 

[Aragon]

Well apparently one of the birds is a bit older than my previous birds since this morning I was pleasantly surprised to find my first EGG!! It's a white egg, but with the mixed breeds I am not sure who laid it.

@Kev
What do you recommend for dusting and deworming? I had thought about doing the de-flea/lice technique mentioned by others on this site just to make sure. I hadn't thought about deworming. Also, Storey's book recommends that toe nails be trimmed if they start to curly. Should I just let them wear down a bit since they will be more in a pen and less free roaming?

 

[donrae]

I think the brown leghorn looks pure. If you mix them it gets obvious pretty fast, and she looks pure. That's your white layer. The black one, I don't see white lobes, especially on the first pic. The other pics look to have some glare, but when compared to the leghorn there's no white lobes. I do think she's a mix and she and the red hen will lay you nice brown eggs.

Glad you finally got some hens, and are getting eggs!

 

[debid]

I think the brown leghorn looks pure. If you mix them it gets obvious pretty fast, and she looks pure. That's your white layer. The black one, I don't see white lobes, especially on the first pic. The other pics look to have some glare, but when compared to the leghorn there's no white lobes. I do think she's a mix and she and the red hen will lay you nice brown eggs.

Glad you finally got some hens, and are getting eggs!

Are you looking at the first picture from the new set with the Leghorn in it and seeing red ears on the black pullet or the first picture (of a black cockerel) that the OP posted? I don't see huge white lobes like the Leghorn has but the lobes that are there sure look white to me. I have an EE like that -- regular little lobes that hide behind her cheek puffs but they're stark white.

 

[donrae]

Are you looking at the first picture from the new set with the Leghorn in it and seeing red ears on the black pullet or the first picture (of a black cockerel) that the OP posted? I don't see huge white lobes like the Leghorn has but the lobes that are there sure look white to me. I have an EE like that -- regular little lobes that hide behind her cheek puffs but they're stark white.

The second set, the pullets with the brown leghorn. That first pic especially doesn't have white lobes. I see what looks like glare on them on the next pics, but I don't think they're really white. Now that leghorn, those are white lobes! Some birds I've seen have some white-ish color in the middle of a red lobe, but I don't think that's really a white lobe.

 

[Aragon]

@debid

The black chicken does have some white patches, not as big or noticeable as the leghorn, on her ears. At first I thought they were bald patches but on inspection they are white patches.

 

[debid]

Oh, for goodness sakes, it's not glare or it wouldn't show in exactly the same spot in photos taken at different angles. This chicken has no glare above the sun line on her neck and while she doesn't have the mammoth white lobes of the Leghorn, I don't know how they could be considered red:

.

I would say your black chicken is a mix with red and white ears in the genetic pool just like my EE has. For the record, this chicken lays green eggs. I have no idea what color to expect from your black pullet because ear and egg color aren't truly linked.

 

[hdowden]

brown leghorn, a production red, and a black mix breed