What breed is Suzie?

[shadowmane]

Actually, that's what she looked like at a week old when we bought her. She's just a slight bit more brown than the one you pictured and was already getting her wing feathers. Of course, with her feathering out, she's getting a real red color to her wing feathers now.

 

[BlazeJester]

She may just be a BSL that is very heavy on the red. There are some, like there are some without any red at all. It just depends on the parents.

 

[shadowmane]

Okay, now that its been a good week and a half, Suzie has feathered out really well. I have some updated pictures here, so maybe you can help me figure out exactly what she is. Production Red, Red Sex Link, Black Sex Link, or something else.











I put up the wing shot just for the heck of it. I wanted you to see the feather pattern. Red on the leading edge and black on the outer edge (I know there are technical terms for them, but I don't know them yet). Thankfully, her comb is still safely yellow, so for now, she's still Suzie.

 

[shadowmane]

And here she is at 5 weeks old.

 

[Spangled]

And here she is at 5 weeks old.

I'm still going to have to go with what I wrote before: "She could be that 1 in 500 genetic anomaly that hatch out of sex-links every now and then." All that black usually doesn't appear on a red sex-link and all that red doesn't usally appear on a black sex-link. Genes almost always line up like they should, but some get combined a little goofy sometimes. That's the best I can do. But it will be nice to be able to tell her from the other chickens easily.

I suppose that she could have been the first chick through the conveyer belt of some other breed and she got put accidentally in the last box of the preceding black sex-links at the hatchery. However, I don't know what breed should could be.

Thanks for the update. It's interesting to see how she's progressing.

 

[shadowmane]

Okay, just so you know how she feathered out, I have an updated picture or two of Suzie.



She has since lost the two feathers that were sticking up.





And just for good measure, here's a picture of the whole flock at sunset waiting to go in the coop.

 

[Nicole01]

Is it just the camera, or do I already see shiny feathers? Hens don't get shiny feathers. My araucana boys started getting them around 5 weeks. I'id keep a close eye on that one - will be beautiful regardless. What else did the feed store have available at the time you got it?

I have a rhode island red hen that has shiny feathers and I have no clue why. A lot of people notice and mention how nice and shiny they are when looking at my RIR girl. Even the RIR across the street doesn't look like her. She's an excellent layer too!

Here she is with my iPod touch photo, you can see her feathers still shine without a flash. Her whole body is like this.

 

[Nicole01]

Okay, just so you know how she feathered out, I have an updated picture or two of Suzie. She has since lost the two feathers that were sticking up. And just for good measure, here's a picture of the whole flock at sunset waiting to go in the coop.

I have no clue, but maybe she's a mix. She is stunning! What a beautiful color. She's shedding her old feathers, that's why they were sticking up. They start to go into a mini molt around 12-14 weeks and I'm not sure how long it lasts exactly.