What breed and sex?

[lolita117]

Don't confuse a crappy RIR to be a Red Sex Link. I don't know what hatchery you are talking about, but hatcheries by and large, are breeding their stock more towards production and not breed type. That is also why you get bad tempered birds most often from hatcheries. A crappy RIR may look a lot like a RSL, but they are very different in that they are a cross breed versus a purebred.
IF one is looking for a good show bird, you are better off going to a breeder and not a big hatchery. That being said, McMurray does produce some very good birds sometimes. The New Hampshire Red that lolita posted is a good looking bird for a hatchery NHR. The color is very good too, and the black flecks in the neck and the black in the tail are correct. However, go to the auction page for hatching eggs and cpartis's auction for NHR if you want to see some EXCELLENT quality NHRs. It doesn't take a trained eye to see the difference.
Okay, but back to the bird in question, I think the OP has it, it is an EE. I didn't notice the cheeks on him before. And yes, it is a him with that coloring and it has that "look" I have come to see is male. It is a red colored male that will have some darker flecks in the neck that will eventually grow darker and more pronounced. You will probably also notice by comparison its legs will be a little thicker than the girls. If they are green legs, then there is little doubt that it would be anything but an EE.
I hope I could be of some help, LA.

I agree with you (Not just because you agreed with me). I think my RIR and my NHR are very good examples of each breed. No they may not be show quality but they represent the breed well. I also have Red Stars from Murray, They look totally different from my NHR and my RIR's. They have white flecks throughout their feathering and have lots of white on the end of their tails and wings, not like my NHR. I think she is a great representation of her breed. From both Meyer and Murray, to say there birds are "hatchery RIR or hatchery NHR" is incorrect. Those birds you are calling that are Red-sex linked hands down. For a well known hatchery to not have pure breeds but calling them that, they would lose business. Their stock my not be show quality, but they are good representations of what each breed is suppose to be. Just like my RIR and New Hampshire Red. They are both from a hatchery but there is no question as to what breed it is.

Here is a picture of my Red Star or what others call Red Sex Linked. I drew a circle around her. See the white flecks?
The dark red hen at the bottom left is my RIR and the barred are Barred Rocks. I also got White Rocks, a white wyandotte, and white Jersey Giants with this group. I'm knew to chickens, just one year in but I've learned alot and I can tell which breeds I have. I understand and know what basics to look for in each. If I questioned a breed I asked people on here. And most confirmed what I thought. But as far as my NHR and RIR they fit the bill for their breed.

 

[Minniechickmama]

Went out and had a good look at this chick. If it helps, it has yellow legs and I remember it being a chipmunk pattern and you can see a line coming off the corner of it's eye.

Just one more on the EE checklist. Often they come out as chicks with the chipmunk stripes. NHR and RIR should be reddish buff colored, no stripes. The don't have to have green legs since they are a mutt. I stand by my last that it is an EE cockerel. When I went back again I noticed those lovely RED wattles coming in. It may be nice to have one around if he is well-behaved and you have girls for him.

 

[Lagniappe Alpacas]

I guess I'll now for sure in a few months. Thanks for all the help everyone!

 

[BlazeJester]

The first thing that comes to mind is new hampshire red. It could be anything if you got extra males, does it look like several of the others?

I also don't see anything that screams "EE" - that's what people like to call all mutts these days, because somewhere they MIGHT have ONE OR TWO genes (ok, 99%) in common with an Ameraucana. So what everyone means by "EE" is "You have a mutt! We have no idea what it is but EEs are so popular it PROBABLY has SOME of that in it!".

I will say, we don't know what color the legs are on your bird. A side shot of it standing up would help a lot. Do you have a picture of it as a chick as well?

 

[Lagniappe Alpacas]

I posted earlier that it has yellow legs. Right now I'm going with pullet. I have another post with what I thought was white rocks and almost everyone is saying they are white leghorn roos. I have 8 of them and we got 8 roos for packing peanuts. Might be a coincidence, but they are all acting like little roos, even though I've seen my hens posturing with each other. I know at least one is crowing, but I've not caught them in the act, so not sure who it is.

Guess I'll know more in a few weeks and as time goes by. Thanks again all!

 

[dandydoodle]

EEs have pea combs. I would have to say production RIR or production NHR

 

[stephanie1992]

EEs have pea combs. I would have to say production RIR or production NHR

i also say Production bird. but not all EES have pea combs. since EEs are a mix, they can have any comb

 

[BlazeJester]

An EE is a mutt, but a mutt is not necessarily an EE.

At some point it gets ridiculous to claim that every mutt bird is an EE even though it shows one or no characteristics of the "Ameraucana" sold by hatcheries, ALMOST all of which will have green/slate legs, pea combs, muffs/beards, and perhaps some characteristic color patterns.

Of course there are variations, but after how many generations of breeding to mutts and production breeds is it no longer an EE? And how reasonable is it to claim that every bird with slate legs (even though this one in question does not have them) is EE? Is Ameraucana the ONLY breed with slate legs? Very improbable.

i also say Production bird. but not all EES have pea combs. since EEs are a mix, they can have any comb

 

[debid]

An EE is a mutt, but a mutt is not necessarily an EE.

At some point it gets ridiculous to claim that every mutt bird is an EE even though it shows one or no characteristics of the "Ameraucana" sold by hatcheries, ALMOST all of which will have green/slate legs, pea combs, muffs/beards, and perhaps some characteristic color patterns.

Of course there are variations, but after how many generations of breeding to mutts and production breeds is it no longer an EE? And how reasonable is it to claim that every bird with slate legs (even though this one in question does not have them) is EE? Is Ameraucana the ONLY breed with slate legs? Very improbable.

I agree completely. As far as I'm concerned, once the blue egg gene has been lost in crossbreeding, it's no longer an EE. So, if a person orders an "Americana" from a hatchery and gets a bearded, pea-combed, green-legged bird that lays brown eggs, it's NOT an EE. It's just a pretty mutt. But, as long as folks insist upon calling a brown-layer that they thought would lay blue or green eggs or has certain physical traits an EE, the confusion over where to draw the line will continue.

 

[Lagniappe Alpacas]

Thanks for all the help everyone. I'm pretty sure this will turn out to be a pullet. We had 8 roos packed in with our all pullet order and we have 8 white chickens that I thought were rocks, but they were identified as white leghorns and they have to be the roos because their combs are so large. They are so much bigger at their age then my white leghorn hens, were at that age. We also caught two of them crowing tonight. They just turned 8 weeks. So unless the hatchery made a mistake with the gender, all my others should be pullets.