What color is my chick? Who are its parents?

[SuperFluffyChickens]

Hello, this is my first time hatching eggs from my own flock, and I’m trying to figure out who this chick’s parents might be! I was sure I knew, I isolated the rooster I wanted to be the father with the hens I wanted him to mate with, but I learned that hens can retain sperm from other roosters for a while, and I don’t think I kept them away from my other rooster for long enough. Anyway, I thought I knew the baby was going to be a mix between my splash roo and blue hen, but it looks nothing like either parent so I must have mislabeled the egg!

The baby is about a week old now, and that big forehead suggests maybe it’ll grow a crest! It also has a straight comb hidden under that fluff. Anyone know what color this chick might grow up to be?

The possible fathers are a splash Steele Egger (basically fancy EE with crest) -

and this guy, who’s a mix himself so I’m not sure what his color actually is -

And the potential mothers are a Blue Australorp (seems unlikely now, but based on what the egg looked like this was my original guess) -

And a crested Swedish Flower Hen -

 

[JedJackson]

I see no clear answer here. Maybe someone else will have an idea, but I think it may have to wait until the chick is older.

 

[CascadiaRiver]

Are those the only two hens it could be? The egg looked more like the Australorp?

I could totally see the EE having some other genes in there, that's pretty common since a lot was mixed to get them so colorful and fun! The crest bump you see could be from the EE boy or from the SFH but if the egg didn't look like hers then... and I'll double check but I think mottling is a dominant gene, meaning it'd at least be likely that her chicks would have mottling. (it will also be much easier once she's older haha)

 

[SuperFluffyChickens]

Are those the only two hens it could be? The egg looked more like the Australorp?

I could totally see the EE having some other genes in there, that's pretty common since a lot was mixed to get them so colorful and fun! The crest bump you see could be from the EE boy or from the SFH but if the egg didn't look like hers then... and I'll double check but I think mottling is a dominant gene, meaning it'd at least be likely that her chicks would have mottling. (it will also be much easier once she's older haha)

I had separated out 5 hens and the splash EE boy in a closed-off part of my run, the other 3 hens have more distinctive-looking eggs but the eggs the Australorp and the SFH lay look super similar. I think the SFH’s eggs are a tiny bit lighter than the egg this baby hatched from but I don’t really remember. I figured it’s a bit too early to tell, but I’m just so curious to learn about genetics so I figured it’d be interesting to ask.

 

[CascadiaRiver]

I had separated out 5 hens and the splash EE boy in a closed-off part of my run, the other 3 hens have more distinctive-looking eggs but the eggs the Australorp and the SFH lay look super similar. I think the SFH’s eggs are a tiny bit lighter than the egg this baby hatched from but I don’t really remember. I figured it’s a bit too early to tell, but I’m just so curious to learn about genetics so I figured it’d be interesting to ask.

I was wrong, mottling is recessive, so that doesn't narrow it down. I'm thinking the reddish we're seeing here is likely on the EE boys side genetically, Splash+Blue would be 50/splash 50/blue and Splash+MilleFleur would be 100/blue so it doesn't narrow it down. This might be something to need to wait on

It would be clearer once she's older too to better determine if it's splash roo or your red guy! There might be some reddish/brownish on the wings, if she's patterned then it might be more likely it's your red roo