ways to tell the different breeds

[sydney13]

im getting several chicken breeds but splitting the order with some one so i will need to tell whos are whos. can you tell if they will have a single comb by looking at them as chicks? Would a faverolle chick be noticeable smaller then a cochin? can you tell which chicks have 5 toes? would a faverolle show a muff as a chick? Any other ways to tell them apart?
im getting faveolle cochin brahma orpington and sussex

 

[lemurchaser]

What is the other person getting? Cochin and brahmas will have feathered legs as chicks, orpingtons will be a light color and you can differentiate combs.

Some hatcheries will mark chicks for you, someone here posted a pic of it (the hatchery had marked all hers with pink on the head)

 

[BarredBuff]

Quote:
Orpington (Buff I assume) will be a golden color
Cochin and Brahmas will have feathered legs (I am not real sure how to tell them apart)
Faverolle will have a slight beard I believe
The Sussex will be whats left.

 

[warmfuzzies]

Idealy you should be able to tell your cochin apart from your brahma. The cochin SHOULD have a lot more feathering on the legs, but I have seen some chicks with less then they should have. Cochin feathering should go all the way down the middle toe, where on the brahmas it will be more on the legs.

It will also help if you know what color they are going to be. Cochins have many colors, where the brahmas are more patterned and less plain colored. Does that make any sense?

You can go to feathersite.com, and also go to the McMurray and Welp hatcheries, they both have pictures of most of their breeds as chicks. Once you see them it won't be as hard as you thought.