What is a sapphire gem?

[The Moonshiner]

They look just like mine <3

Any updated pics of yours that you think are males?

 

[The Moonshiner]

This is so helpful!! Thank you. I’m starting to think mine may be all girls now too and they just develop combs fast.

I'm still wondering about this myself.
I raise leghorns and always have some pullets that get combs big enough and pink enough that others swear they're cockerels until I show them a cockerel of the same age and they see how huge their combs are at that young.
The head spots may be elusive but it equals barring which should be easily seen when they feather out.
All males should be barred and there was someone that had some that were barred.

 

[abbielaneus]

My mother got us into the chicken business this year with 6 chicks from Tractor Supply...chicken math happened and we now have 12. I haven't had chickens since I was younger and we lived on the farm and I certainly didn't get to "pick" my chickens. All that to say I have identified all but 2 of the original 6 she picked up. After scouring pics from hatcheries and finding Sapphire Gems on Hoover's page, I think that be our missing breed. This thread has had the most info about them, but I also reserve the right to be way completely wrong in the first place. It seems they both have barring, dark wash on legs, and black on their beaks...so if they are SG I'm thinking female, but I seriously thought one of ours was a roo based on comb and behavior. They are both larger than our other chicks. Any advice/insight would be appreciated.

 

[PachecoPeeps]

View attachment 1326710 View attachment 1326714 View attachment 1326715 View attachment 1326716 View attachment 1326718 View attachment 1326719 View attachment 1326720 View attachment 1326722 View attachment 1326710 View attachment 1326714 My mother got us into the chicken business this year with 6 chicks from Tractor Supply...chicken math happened and we now have 12. I haven't had chickens since I was younger and we lived on the farm and I certainly didn't get to "pick" my chickens. All that to say I have identified all but 2 of the original 6 she picked up. After scouring pics from hatcheries and finding Sapphire Gems on Hoover's page, I think that be our missing breed. This thread has had the most info about them, but I also reserve the right to be way completely wrong in the first place. It seems they both have barring, dark wash on legs, and black on their beaks...so if they are SG I'm thinking female, but I seriously thought one of ours was a roo based on comb and behavior. They are both larger than our other chicks. Any advice/insight would be appreciated.

They do look like sapphire gems and I too was worried about the combs but many of mine have grown into them and they have no pink or wattles yet.

 

[renk777]

My mother got us into the chicken business this year with 6 chicks from Tractor Supply...chicken math happened and we now have 12. I haven't had chickens since I was younger and we lived on the farm and I certainly didn't get to "pick" my chickens. All that to say I have identified all but 2 of the original 6 she picked up. After scouring pics from hatcheries and finding Sapphire Gems on Hoover's page, I think that be our missing breed. This thread has had the most info about them, but I also reserve the right to be way completely wrong in the first place. It seems they both have barring, dark wash on legs, and black on their beaks...so if they are SG I'm thinking female, but I seriously thought one of ours was a roo based on comb and behavior. They are both larger than our other chicks. Any advice/insight would be appreciated.

Well, prior to the one post above, I would have have said two pullets based on color and my own experience. But now that I've seen a darker chick with the spot, I have to reconsider any dark chicks I see going forward. One of yours (the one with the darker head) stands a bit like a cockerel though the tail feathers are prominent and angled down which would make me guess pullet. And even at 2 weeks, my little cockerels were seriously threatening me with more advanced combs and wattles. So I think my roo suspicion with your one might just be camera angle. It's so much easier for me to guess in person. I'm relatively new at this...scrutinizing the chicks we just hatched out of our barnyard mix for signs. They're not even a week old but as of the moment, I believe my favorite 4 are pullets and since this was supposed to be a hatch intended for freezer camp, the most I can hope to spare for layers is 4...not even sure they'll be good layers but love them and am willing to give it a try. Anyway, I'm going out to feed by SGs now....they're in their 7th week and the roos are definitely roos. I'll try to grab a pic if it's not raining too hard....they're in the tractor so if it's really wet, they might not come to the front to greet me.

 

[jallen062]

Could my 4 day old chicks be sapphire gems?

 

[renk777]

You can always try the gold ring on a string test I hear it's quite accurate. I tried it last year and was dismayed to find we had more roos than pullets...figured it was ridiculous and hardly a true test...but alas, it was right. Tried it with my current hatch and it seems to coincide with the ones I'd guess to be pullets by wing carriage, the way they stand, act, and the apparent (or not yet showing) tail feathers. So give it a try. If nothing else, it's a fun little test to distract you until you can tell for sure

View attachment 1326999 View attachment 1327000 View attachment 1327001 Could my 4 day old chicks be sapphire gems?

Not sure...they look a little bit different than mine did....can't put my finger on it...but camera phones don't make it easy! They're definitely similar but there are other blue breeds. My friend got blue Australorps and they look very much like my chicks...so someone more familiar with all breeds will need to weigh in. Where did you get them?

 

[renk777]

View attachment 1326999 View attachment 1327000 View attachment 1327001 Could my 4 day old chicks be sapphire gems?

I think it's the one with the really light head and darker body that's throwing me off...the 2 behind it look like SGs. I haven't seen that combination of color in a chick yet...all of mine were either all light (roos) or had darker heads/neck/wings. Interested to hear what others say!

 

[jallen062]

I got them from my local feed store- I grabbed them because I love lavender and blue chickens- they were from the rainbow pullet pack bin I got two light brahmas, and one EE. The other two I just took a chance on because they are so cute

 

[jallen062]

More pics....