What breed are my chicks?

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

I agree - they all look like roos, but...... I'm not 100% sure that they all are. The one that you thought might be a barred rock looks like a male Black Sexlink and the white chick under that is a Red sexlink -- red sexlink males are mostly white with a little red and females are red with a little bit of white (Illia's right - sexlinks can be sexed at hatch by their coloring). I don't recognize the other chicks' breeds - could be sexlinks also - especially the barred one at the top or could just be mixes.


The very bottom chick is colored like a female black sexlink (Black Star), but the wattles and comb are large for a 4-5 week old pullet. Your chicks do look a little older than 4-5 weeks - is it possible they are 6 weeks old or even 7-8? If they were newly hatched or only a few days old when you picked them up, they would have had little to no feathers. If they are older than 6 weeks - I'd watch the bottom chick - if the wattles and comb don't grow any bigger in the next few weeks, it might be a pullet. I'm also reconsidering the top chick - it looks rooish, especially with that splash of red on its shoulder, but the comb is pretty small for 6 weeks or older.


Do you have any pics when they were younger or can you double check their hatch date? The exact age is a big determinate in sexing chicks this young.

 

[Illia]

Quote:
Only problem is - One of the red necked black ones has barring on its neck, and the others - Females don't get red on their necks so early. Even Black Copper Marans hens don't get coppering that heavily so early.

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

Quote:
Only problem is - One of the red necked black ones has barring on its neck, and the others - Females don't get red on their necks so early. Even Black Copper Marans hens don't get coppering that heavily so early.

I did think about the possibility that they could be 2nd generation sexlinks and that's why they have such odd color patterns, but that bottom chick looks so much like some of my female black stars did.

My Black Stars did color out very early - I believe these chicks were 6-8 weeks of age?:

This is 1 at 4 weeks - so ugly at that stage, but you can see her color coming in - mine varied with the amount of red/copper coloring.

Thankfully, they get prettier when they grow up:

I'm glad to hear that BCM get their copper coloring later - I have two BCMs that are 10 weeks old and hardly have any copper on their neck yet.

 

[donrae]

Do you have any recourse with the seller? If they were ignorant and unknowingly sold you all roosters (I know, but I'm trying to give the benefit of the doubt), they should be willing to make it right and exchange them for pullets. Local farmers want happy customers! But, if they did scam you and did indeed know they're roosters, I guess you're sol. It sucks that people take advantage of newbies, and being scammed takes alot of the joy out of having chickens.

 

[FarmDreams]

Thank you all for your responses. I had called our local feed store about chicks and he said that when they don't carry any, they always refer people to this ranch and he gave me their number. They seem to be a non profit organization (something about California Education Through Animals Foundation (CETA)).
They have tons of animals walking around that ranch. They told me they could not tell me what breed these are, cause they have so many different ones running around. There were 6 chicks in a cage, out of which I picked 5 and the guy told me, most likely the white ones would be roosters. They said the chicks had hatched the week before. Here's a pic of them the day we got them, which was October 26th.

We are not allowed to keep roosters and I mean, I knew that there is a 50/50 chance, but it just stinks if they all are roos.
I just saw on their website that they offer chickens at different age stages (didn't know that last time) and am thinking of maybe asking for the 2-3 months old. Do you have any tips how I can make best sure to choose pullets this time?

Here's there website with the info on the chickens and themselves. http://www.vetoutreach.net/saleslist.html

I really don't think they cheated me on purpose, they were really sweet and feed store always refers people to them.

 

[donrae]

If they didn't cheat you on purpose they should be willing to replace at least 2-3 chicks with pullets free of charge, with a smile.
Spend some time on this board, go back several months of posts. Look at the pictures, read the responses. There is a serious amount of knowledge here. You'll get an "eye" for pullets and roos. Failing that, you can always post pics here and we'll let you know!

 

[RAREROO]

Yep Before you get anymore see if you can take pics of them first and post them here and let us tell you what they are if you cant tell, then you can go back and get the pullets, if it isnt too far of a drive for you.

 

[FarmDreams]

Sigh, don't know what to do. I just talked with the lady from that ranch and she seemed bummed too, but denied these being sexlinks. She only has some other chicks about the same or 4 months old pullets for $20 ea. They would take them back if I can't find another home for them, but I will try and ask at the feed store first. She said sometimes they take them to sell them.
So you all are sure all of them are roosters or should I keep the 2 in question for a little longer?

 

[RAREROO]

Quote:
Sorry about that, but yep, I'm pretty sure they are all roos, and even if they were sexlinks, that doesnt mean that the seller knew they were sexlinks and knew they were roos when they sold them, they could have just been ignorant about the making of sexlinks too.

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

Quote:
I'm guessing your chicks were about 1 1/2 -2 weeks old when you got them and they're now about 5 1/2 - 6 weeks old.


These are some pics of mine at exactly 2 weeks of age:

I looked at the sellers's website. These are the breeds I found listed: Cinnamon Queens (Red Star, Red-sexlinked), Delawares, Barred Rocks, Rhode Island Red, California Whites

It looks like they did not breed these particular chicks to be sexlinks, but since the hens and roosters are all running around together, some may inadvertantly be anyway. A Rhode Island Red and a Delaware would make the red sexlinks (your white cockerel) and the Rhode Island Reds and Barred Rocks could also make black sexlinks. But... I believe your barred chick could just be a barred mix after all and not a black sexlink after all.


The combs on your chicks do look a bit large for 5 1/2 - 6 weeks. I keep going back and forth - they really do look like boys. There's a good chance they're all males (I don't see any that scream pullet), but since chicks are so hard to get in your area, you might want to hold off on rehoming them for a week or two, just in case. By 7-8 weeks of age, it should be obvious.

In my opinion;
#1 - red splashes on wingbows hint at it being a cockerel, but comb is fairly small and pink still - if you don't see wattles forming, I'd hold this one
#2 - if it was a definite black sexlink, it would be male, but.... it could just be barred mix - comb is light - no wattles whatsover - I'd hold this one
#3 - cockerel
#4 - comb is dark pink - if color in pic is accurate - it's a cockerel (pullets won't have dark pink combs this young)
#5 - coloring pattern looks female to me (looks just like a Black Star - mix of Rhode Island Red and Barred Rock), but those wattles and comb are pretty large for so young - pretty sure it's a cockerel after all because of the wattles



For your reference: here are a few 6 week old chicks - you can see the male on the right:

These chicks are also about the same age as your chicks - barely 6 weeks of age --- The black australorp on the right is a cockerel - black one on the left is a female - the Buff orpinton is also a male (look close and you'll see his wattles):

Here's an example of some 7 week old pullets with straight combs (note the color and size of both wattles and combs):

And these are a couple of 7-8 week old cockerels also with the straight type of combs your chicks have (these are the same 2 chicks as in the pictures above - in 2nd pic - notice the wattle growth in just 2 weeks time):