What type of chicks are these?

[Gardener Cruz]

1. Speckled sussex
2. Black sex link
3. Silver laced Wyandotte
4. Gold laced Wyandotte
5. Possibly a black jersey giant or black Australorp
6. I’m not sure what the last photo is. A lot of these came from tractor supply as chicks.

These chickens were not pure bred, but I knew they were not Easter eggers. Can a chick be an Easter egger if its parents weren’t? My roo is a golden laced Wyandotte.

Sorry for the blurry photos, I was screenshotting them from a video I took. Some of the photos are my late hens. I miss them so much.

Not to speak ill of tracktor supply but the companies they get their baby chicks from are not the best at identifying their chicks. I got Plymouth rock chicks and ended up with something far from that. Plymouth rock are supposed to be black n white I got chicken that are solid gray and roosters gray and red. So no telling what you have.

 

[Chickengirl071]

Not to speak ill of tracktor supply but the companies they get their baby chicks from are not the best at identifying their chicks. I got Plymouth rock chicks and ended up with something far from that. Plymouth rock are supposed to be black n white I got chicken that are solid gray and roosters gray and red. So no telling what you have.

I know. Those will have been my last batch from tractor supply. We have a family owned feed store in our county that gets chicks every spring so we will just be buying from them from now on. After getting our last chicks from tractor supply, all of them ended up passing away within 2 days. Then with them not really identifying their chicks correctly, I’d rather go to someone who is more reliable.

 

[rural mouse]

I don't know what genes are causing that "spangled" appearance on him, but I am fairly sure he didn't get it from the Wyandottes. I think it is more likely that the black patterning is caused by some set of genes that is not the same as what causes the usual "Spangled" pattern in Hamburgs and Spitzhaubens and Brabanters and the calculator.

The only hens at the time were the 2 types of wyandotte, barred rocks, buff orps, jersey giants, and an assortment of bearded EE. His "spangling" is more "incomplete" lacing.

 

[NatJ]

The only hens at the time were the 2 types of wyandotte, barred rocks, buff orps, jersey giants, and an assortment of bearded EE. His "spangling" is more "incomplete" lacing.

Then I would guess an EE mother. They can show beards while carrying the not-beard gene, so they might produce some chicks with no beards.

Or else I would guess that some of the "Jersey Giants" or "Barred Rocks" were carrying some unexpected genes (I would expect them to produce just black chicks and black with white barring, but I once had a Barred Rock Bantam that produced Columbian-patterned chicks in silver and gold depending on the father's color and the sex of the chicks.) If there was a Black Sexlink in the flock, she might be mistaken for a Jersey Giant, but could produce a mostly-gold son when mated with a Buff Orpington or Orpington-mix rooster.

I could easily believe your rooster came from a Gold Laced Wyandotte mother, but I really don't think Silver Laced or Silver Columbian could produce a son who looks so very gold.

I'm having trouble recognizing his comb type. Would it be single comb that lost the tips to frostbite? If it is something else, that might give some clue about parentage.

But there may be no way to ever prove this one way or another. No matter what his parents were, he is a beautiful rooster!

 

[rural mouse]

Then I would guess an EE mother. They can show beards while carrying the not-beard gene, so they might produce some chicks with no beards.

Or else I would guess that some of the "Jersey Giants" or "Barred Rocks" were carrying some unexpected genes (I would expect them to produce just black chicks and black with white barring, but I once had a Barred Rock Bantam that produced Columbian-patterned chicks in silver and gold depending on the father's color and the sex of the chicks.) If there was a Black Sexlink in the flock, she might be mistaken for a Jersey Giant, but could produce a mostly-gold son when mated with a Buff Orpington or Orpington-mix rooster.

I could easily believe your rooster came from a Gold Laced Wyandotte mother, but I really don't think Silver Laced or Silver Columbian could produce a son who looks so very gold.

I'm having trouble recognizing his comb type. Would it be single comb that lost the tips to frostbite? If it is something else, that might give some clue about parentage.

But there may be no way to ever prove this one way or another. No matter what his parents were, he is a beautiful rooster!

Single comb, got hit with frostbite one year....several others got hit too. No golden wyandottes in flock.

He is a sweetheart too. Had a hen spend the night hiding in a bush after escaping the neighbor's visiting family dog. He had a scrape with the dog too. When I caught her and brought her inside, she was acting shocky. I put her in my baby raising tote and grabbed him. She wasn't eating or drinking anything, so I was getting worried. When I tucked him in with her, she burrowed almost UNDER him (She's about 4 pounds soaking wet and he's a hefty 8). He started cooing and purring to her and almost acted like a mama hen with a baby with her. He got her drinking water, and they stayed inside all night. Fast forward to the next morning. One of the other boys is crowing outside the door (glass patio door, tote next to it). He replied....repeatedly. finally got her to eat something, so I tried to kick him outside. He turned around and tried to come right back inside, not about to leave her alone. When she hopped up onto the side of the tote, then on out the door, he didn't want to come in any more. He escorted her off to join the others. And is probably my BEST rooster.

 

[Chickengirl071]

So sorry about your hens I can't really tell from the pics, could you get some of each individual chick?

Here are some of them individually. I think one might get a rose comb or a double comb! It looks so interesting! I think the last one is a roo.

 

[rural mouse]

Here are some of them individually. I think one might get a rose comb or a double comb! It looks so interesting! I think the last one is a roo.

So your golden wyandotte roo isn't pure for rose comb. Classically, he should be RRpp. And 100% of his babies would be rose comb: Rrpp. However, wyandottes in particular had a decrease in fertility, that at the time was linked to the rose comb genetics. In an effort to raise the fertility of the eggs, they introduced straight combs so wyandottes can pop straight combs from time to time. One of your chippy babies has a rose comb, so should be at least Rrpp (unless got rose from the mother too, so could be RRpp). The rest all look to be straight comb (rrpp) so had to get one of the little "r"s (not rose) from daddy.

The last one...not seeing enough red + wattles to say is a roo, but it's certainly on the keep an eye on list.

 

[Chickengirl071]

So your golden wyandotte roo isn't pure for rose comb. Classically, he should be RRpp. And 100% of his babies would be rose comb: Rrpp. However, wyandottes in particular had a decrease in fertility, that at the time was linked to the rose comb genetics. In an effort to raise the fertility of the eggs, they introduced straight combs so wyandottes can pop straight combs from time to time. One of your chippy babies has a rose comb, so should be at least Rrpp (unless got rose from the mother too, so could be RRpp). The rest all look to be straight comb (rrpp) so had to get one of the little "r"s (not rose) from daddy.

The last one...not seeing enough red + wattles to say is a roo, but it's certainly on the keep an eye on list.

That’s awesome to learn about. I remember learning about basic genes and the dominant/recessive stuff in biology, but it’s been so long. I love that I’m learning more about my chickens genetics.