What breed?

[Colorful]

Hi ya'll this is my first post to BYC and I'm so excited!!!
Just got 6 chicks for my birthday and was hoping someone could tell
me the breeds? Possibly sex??? I'm told that the three big black
ones are Cukoo Marans and that the other three came out of a
"Bantam Assortment" bin at TSC. Thanks for any help!!

 

[Twistedfeather]

It's going to be hard to say, saying that you ordered from an assortment because they don't tell you what they give you, the only way to know is to go to the assortment you ordered and seeing what they had and then looking up chicks of that breed. For sexing it would have to be an autosexed breed for us to tell at that point, and if I'm not mistaken the three big black ones the one with the white on the head may be a cockerel (if those are the same breed you can tell there's a major difference)

I was reading that there are certain gifted people that can tell the gender of young chicks without too many signs but I haven't met anyone yet. Good luck on your new chicks

 

[Lady of McCamley]

First,

so glad you joined us and joined the chicken owner loving club.

As to your questions.

Unless they are auto-sexing or sex-linked breeds, where the color of the down is different for the sexes, it is impossible to tell their sex from looking at them at this age. A lot of stores sell chicks that were "sexed" at the hatchery at a day of age. That means somebody who is highly trained looked into their little behinds with a magnifying glass to determine if there was a male bump or no male bump...that is about 90% accurate...so if they came from a "sexed" bin, you have a 90% chance of getting girls. The store should have indicated if it was a "sexed" bin or a "straight run" which would mean boys and girls are included in the bin. Generally you have a 50/50 chance of getting a boy or girl, so if you had 10 chicks, you *could* get 5 girls and 5 boys...although like the coin toss, what you might experience could be higher or lower of that as the average is over enough numbers to be statistically accurate.

As to breeds, we would need to see better individual pictures, but be aware, a LOT of chicks look the same at the chick stage so it can be very difficult to tell breeds from one another as a lot of breeds have a chimpmunk chick, others have a black down, others a yellow, etc.

Bantams are just a "mini" size bird of a regular breed, with a few exceptions. Just like you can have a miniature poodle or a bigger standard poodle. Still a poodle, but over time the breeders have selected for a small size. Chickens are the same way. You could have a bantam Rhode Island Red or a full size Rhode Island Red, just to name one breed (but the down colors don't match RIR's for any of them).

That means you could have almost anything in an assortment. It probably is best to call the feed store to see what assortments were included as they should know what the hatchery indicated (or can call).

Cute little brood. Enjoy.
Lady of McCamley

 

[Colorful]

Went down to TSC but nobody at the store knew anything. Here's some close ups.
Chick 1:





Chick 2:



Chick 3:

 

[Colorful]

Supposedly these are three Cuckoo Maran chicks their bin was unsexed

Chick with spot:




The two black headed chicks:

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Only the one chick with the head spot has potential to be a Cuckoo Marans. Cuckoo means patterned (in black and white). Barred (crisper black and white stripes) and Cuckoo chicks will all have a head spot.

So, the totally black chicks cannot be Cuckoo Marans. That only tells us what they aren't. They might be Black Copper Marans...but they don't have leg feathers, although hatchery quality in America do not have leg feathers (that is the French line feature).

Obviously that may be a mis-marked bin...those colors also match Barred Rock (head dot) and Australorp (black no head dot). Or there is the possibility that the head dot is a male Black Sex Link and the blacks are female Black Sex Links.

The chipmunk chick could be a Welsummer or Speckled Sussex or Brown Leghorn. With those bright yellow legs, my guess is Brown Leghorn. You'll know when it grows...SS will get white blotches (but should have beige legs). Wellies get salmon colored breasts then brown partridge look with gold at hackles and red earlobes. (Good news is if that is a Wellie, you have a girl with those crisp bar markings). If Brown Leghorn, no salmon chest, brown partridge with gold hackle and white earlobe.

Chick #3...not sure...might be a Partridge Rock or some other like Gold Penciled Rock...someone else may recognize it..

Lady of McCamley

 

[Susango]

Hi can anyone tell me what I should pay for laying hamburg hens. They are 1 year old laying currently

 

[BantamLover21]

Only the one chick with the head spot has potential to be a Cuckoo Marans. Cuckoo means patterned (in black and white). Barred (crisper black and white stripes) and Cuckoo chicks will all have a head spot.

So, the totally black chicks cannot be Cuckoo Marans. That only tells us what they aren't. They might be Black Copper Marans...but they don't have leg feathers, although hatchery quality in America do not have leg feathers (that is the French line feature).

Obviously that may be a mis-marked bin...those colors also match Barred Rock (head dot) and Australorp (black no head dot). Or there is the possibility that the head dot is a male Black Sex Link and the blacks are female Black Sex Links.

The chipmunk chick could be a Welsummer or Speckled Sussex or Brown Leghorn. With those bright yellow legs, my guess is Brown Leghorn. You'll know when it grows...SS will get white blotches (but should have beige legs). Wellies get salmon colored breasts then brown partridge look with gold at hackles and red earlobes. (Good news is if that is a Wellie, you have a girl with those crisp bar markings). If Brown Leghorn, no salmon chest, brown partridge with gold hackle and white earlobe.

Chick #3...not sure...might be a Partridge Rock or some other like Gold Penciled Rock...someone else may recognize it..

Lady of McCamley

x2 on these guesses.

 

[Twistedfeather]

Hi can anyone tell me what I should pay for laying hamburg hens. They are 1 year old laying currently

What are they offering? For a bird just for laying don't spend more than 10 to 15 dollars.

 

[donrae]

Hi can anyone tell me what I should pay for laying hamburg hens. They are 1 year old laying currently

I usually get $20 each for year old layers, but the price can vary a bit regionally. I wouldn't pay much more than that, unless you really, really want the breed and are willing to pay more.