What colour is this?

[Time-Out]

This chick was hatched out from white araucana parents. Is it a white?


This one is from blue araucana parents, so I'd imagine it's a splash. However, after seeing the one above... I'm confused. My white araucana looked just like this as a chick.


Then there's this one. Its parent are supposedly black breasted red araucanas, but it looks like none of the other bbr chicks I have. And that black dot on it's head is just confusing.


This chick, is apparently child to black araucana parents... It looks lavender to me and has a single comb.


Last but not least, another "What breed is this?"
It came out of a green egg and has a weird comb that looks almost furry?



Chicks 1, 3 and 4 are all from the same breeder. The last one is from eggs bought at a farm gate.

 

[Pele]

With the information that you posted, I'm just as confused as you are, lol. The first chick is clearly a splash. The white parents must be carrying some recessive secrets in their pasts. The second chick could still possibly be a splash, just with veeeeeery few splashes that won't show up until full feathering.

But to be honest, if you flipped the first two pics, life would make a lot more sense. Maybe the eggs got mixed up somewhere?

BBRs can have a little variation in the chick coloration, depending on the breeding line. I think your little guy could still qualify, he doesn't seem too outside the norm.

The supposed 'Black' chick is definitely not. I'm not familiar enough with the UK breeding programs to know if the Lavenders have the problem of single combs occasionally cropping up, but it's a possibility. Especially since one is shown on the UK club website with a straight comb, but pea combs are explicitely outlined in the standard.

Your last one may be a Araucana mix. I'd keep an eye on it and see if the comb color isn't just confusing to the eye since it matches the fuzz so well. It could very well be that this chick is your Black Araucana, and the other chick is your special surprise.

 

[farmerChef]

maybe the first is a paint?

paint silkie hen from feathersite

 

[Time-Out]

Lol I don't get it. If the first two were from the same breeder, then ok, he or I may have mixed up the eggs, but they weren't. No chance of me mixing them up either as one lot arrived in boxes of nine, the other in half-dozens and one lot already had the colour and date written on them. I've sent him an email asking if he knows about the parents of his birds. After playing with the genetic calculator, I figured if both parents carried the double blue gene, some of the offspring would be splash. HOWEVER, I'd have thought he'd mention it to me! We'll see what he says. I'd bought 7 black eggs, 7 black/red eggs and 4 white eggs from him. I got: 2 whites, 2 black/reds, 1 lavender, 3 splash and 4 blacks. Surprise!
Oh and I think one of the mothers went straying. Check this out...


"honey, are you sure this is my kid?"

The last one's comb looks like nothing I've ever seen before. I'll try to get a photo tonight with the flash so you can see the spikes better. It's how I imagine a buttercup comb might look, but obviously it isn't.

 

[Pele]

Lol I don't get it. If the first two were from the same breeder, then ok, he or I may have mixed up the eggs, but they weren't. No chance of me mixing them up either as one lot arrived in boxes of nine, the other in half-dozens and one lot already had the colour and date written on them. I've sent him an email asking if he knows about the parents of his birds. After playing with the genetic calculator, I figured if both parents carried the double blue gene, some of the offspring would be splash. HOWEVER, I'd have thought he'd mention it to me! We'll see what he says. I'd bought 7 black eggs, 7 black/red eggs and 4 white eggs from him. I got: 2 whites, 2 black/reds, 1 lavender, 3 splash and 4 blacks. Surprise!
Oh and I think one of the mothers went straying. Check this out...


"honey, are you sure this is my kid?"

The last one's comb looks like nothing I've ever seen before. I'll try to get a photo tonight with the flash so you can see the spikes better. It's how I imagine a buttercup comb might look, but obviously it isn't.

I'm sorry Time-Out, but oy what a mess! A cute mess though. It'll be an adventure to see how this batch turns out. Please keep us updated!

 

[Time-Out]

Here is a better shot of the mystery chick's comb. It's got two parallel rows of two spikes, then a flat bit at the back that I can stick my nail under. I've never seen a comb like it. What is it?
It also have about two feathers per leg. I'm guessing it must be a mutt of some sort. Still, it's got a weird comb!

 

[Pele]

That is an interesting comb. It's definitely a mix if it has feathers on it's legs and a comb like that. Maybe it's a La Fleche mix. You'll get more clues as it grows, especially if it develops white ears.

 

[farmerChef]

I would send pics to the breeder and ask what other breeds they have

 

[Time-Out]

That last chick was hatched out of an egg pick up from the side of the road. 90p per half a dozen eggs and an honesty box. My OH paid his 90p and popped them in the incubator. 5 hatched: 1 appenzeller spitzhauben, 3 silkies and this black one.
I've tried looking up their location to see if they have a website with breeds listed, but they don't... I can't really pop over and ask them as they might charge more for hatching eggs than they do for eating eggs.

 

[Time-Out]

In case anyone is interested, that last chick must be a cross between an Appenzeller Spitzhauben and an Araucana. I'll take up updated shot of it's comb later and post. It's rather cool.
It does have a couple of feathers on its legs, though, which threw me. However, considering I hatched a pure Appenzeller, a silkie cross appenzeller then this chap out of a blue egg, I'm fairly certainly of my guess, although there was also a pure silkie in the lot.

The silkie cross appenzeller has the front part of the comb like a normal comb, then the back splits into two spikes.