What am I?

[Nyna]

Is she Partridge Rock? She's a little over 1 year. Also, do the buffs look like they are crossed with something? Their tail feathers seem a bit dark.

 

[Nyna]

wow the first pic made her look chubby!

 

[WindyOaksYokes]

As for the Partridge Rock qustion... I can not be certain mine are only 17 weeks. As for the Buff... she is an Orpington correct? I have 5 of them and as a couple of them are getting older (21 weeks) their tail feathers are getting darker, and mine our pure. Beautiful chickies you have there!

 

[GAhen]

This is my partridge rock....Lucy.
She looks like an EE I had, before a hawk snatched her....What color are her eggs?
The buffs look like x's to me.....but I am just learning all this myself.
Pretty birds though! I love the colors...reminds me of fall.

 

[Nyna]

Windy Oaks, Yes the Buffs are Orpingtons. GAhen, they all lay light brown eggs. Gee, Lucy sure is pretty. She looks a lot different then my PR girls. Maybe they are something different!

 

[ella]

Those are not Partride Rocks. Looks more like a home-made black sex-link. I love my home made black sex-links by the way!

Am I crazy or do several of those hens have rose combs?

 

[Nyna]

Rose combs? I'm sorry I'm not familiar with that. These are my first chickies So not Partrige Rock? That's what the gal I got them from told me. hum. Well I love them no matter what they are! It would just be nice to know exactly. Sex link huh? Okay...

 

[ella]

Sorry I wasn't very informative.

A comb is the red fleshy thing on top of the chicken's head. Comb size and shape vary between the breeds. Most people are familiar with the 'single' comb which looks like this:

But some chickens have a 'rose' comb, like this:

It's flat on top.


Other's have a 'pea' comb:

It has three ridges along the top, but isn't as tall and thin as a single comb.

If I were to guess I'd say your hen's are mixes, possibly Buff Orpington, maybe some Barred or Partridge Rock in there. With the possible exception of the 2nd hen from the left on the last photo, she could be pure Buff Orp.

A sex-link is a first generation cross between two breeds, the female offspring are a different color than the male. There are many different breeds that can be used to make sex-links, a Buff Orpington male with a Barred Rock female would produce a chicken that looks like your buff and black hens, unless, they have rose combs. A rose comb would indicate that they have a different parent.

Hope this info helps!

 

[Mac]

Thanks for the comb images and descriptions! They are a great help to a beginner like me. I know a lot about rose "ears" in bulldogs, but just learning about them in chickens.

Thanks,
Mac

 

[Nyna]

Wow, thank you, very informative. So basically a have a few mutts!

Thats fine, that's what I figured. Yes, I think a few do have the rose combs. I have two black cochin mixes (not in the pic) and one has a rose comb. one has a single comb. the one with the single comb has feathers on her feet and the rose doesn't but besides that they look eggsactly the same.

So I just figure I have a mix of a few things right? I love mutts though. My dog is a pound mutt and she is the best dog ever. Anyhow... thanks for the info.