What breed is this?

[MrsSchwarz]

So I lost two chickens this spring. Chicken math, I obviously needed 14 more... This chick was sold as a black sex link, but I already have two black sex links that look nothing like this. As a chick it was black with a brown face, so I think that rules out Wyandotte. After all the googling, I’m at a loss. We’re at about 5 weeks now and this is what she looks like.

 

[The Happster]

Only thing I can think of is Black Rock.....google it and see what you think. Had a hen a long time ago that looked like this.
She was the most beautiful hen I've ever had.
Gold chest with tiny black hearts, single comb and beautiful feathers just like yours has.

 

[MrsSchwarz]

Interestingly, I just googled it and the Black Rock chick looks almost exactly like my girl did at a few days old. I googled a little further and the parentage for both Black Rock chickens and Black Sex Link is the same (RI Red Cock/Barred Rock Hen). Maybe I should have been a bit more patient, she just looks so different from my current black sex links I couldn’t believe they were the same breed.

 

[The Happster]

She's really cute.
I knew one parent was supposed to be a RIR but didn't know the other was a BR.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

This chick was sold as a black sex link, but I already have two black sex links that look nothing like this.

Hi there, hope you are enjoying BYC!

Black sex links can come from many crosses.. the fact that they're crosses.. means they may inherit different traits to some degree and not all like exactly the same. That's the whole not breeding true thing.

The bird pictured looks EXACTLY like a black sex link.. and that's what it is..

Sometimes they're mistaken for black copper Marans.. but there are significant differences between the two that make it easy to tell. It isn't a black Rock either.. differences become more apparent with age when eye color comes in and such.

Anything solid and not white over anything barred.. equals sex linked offspring. Another common one, the red sex link comes from crossing RIR over Deleware.

It isn't the color of the feathers that rule out Wyandotte.. it's the comb type.

Anyways, I've never yet seen an actual black rock.. and what they're calling a black Rock on Google is not a "Rock" at all and is a sex link. Just practicing my ID skills!

Good news.. it's a girl, lol!

 

[The Happster]

So mine probably wasn't a Black Rock?
Actually, I don't remember the seller actually telling me it was. I think I googled and it looked most like her.
I think I have a photo somewhere. She was a beautiful hen.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

So mine probably wasn't a Black Rock?
Actually, I don't remember the seller actually telling me it was. I think I googled and it looked most like her.
I think I have a photo somewhere. She was a beautiful hen.

One thing I did notice.. was the term "black Rock" seems to be used in the EU to describe the same bird we call black sex link in the US. My original debunking of it being a purebred black Plymouth Rock was in part due to not realizing they were called something else in another country.. As far as I can tell.. you may have been accurate for your location.. and it's really fantastic for me.. to learn how things are different in different locations as well!

Thanks for sharing the journey!

 

[MrsSchwarz]

So mine probably wasn't a Black Rock?
Actually, I don't remember the seller actually telling me it was. I think I googled and it looked most like her.
I think I have a photo somewhere. She was a beautiful hen.

I did notice that while googling. The posts that mentioned Black Rock were all U.K. based and very adamant that a BlackRock is a blend to RI Red over Barred Rock. The US posts called them black sex links but with the same parentage. Live and learn they say. I’m excited she’s a pretty girl, and she definitely is a girl. Of the 19 I bought (I’m raising some for a neighbor as well) one White Leghorn is definitely a boy (since named Foghorn). This makes my streak of chick raising 28 hens and one roo. I had heard there was about a 10% error rate in sexing new chicks so I’d say the odds have been in my favor so far.

 

[The Happster]

Well I am from UK, and I bought her in the UK, just before I moved to Ireland. She came with me. So that would make sense. I had heard of BSL but never knew they were the same thing.


When we got to Ireland I bought five chicks from a place that didn't look very good. Three of the five died, by the way.
There was a sad looking chick. He said he thought it was a black rock. I took it.
Turned out to be a complete mix, nothing like a BR. Today she looks like an Australorp but she has a Jersey Giant's yellow underfeet and a rose comb.