When can I tell?

[BellaFarfalla]

I also have a "McMurray Mystery" chick, but they just arrived this morning with our meat birds. I know which ones are our Cornish x and which are the Pioneers, but we have one little chick that is black. I added pictures, but as a day old chick I'm not sure it will do much good trying to figure out what it is. How old should it be before we start trying to guess what it is? This is the first time we've had a mystery breed and not known what kind of chicken we were getting, so I'm at a loss as to when we start trying to guess. Thanks in advance!

 

[Kelsie2290]

Cute chick! It will be awhile before you know for sure, when he has adult feathers etc. It does look a lot like their White Jersey Giant chicks if you look at the video ones they have on the website. https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/white_giants.html

 

[redrooster99]

Maybe a Blue Andalusion if they have those. Which i believe they do.

 

[BellaFarfalla]

Thanks. I looked at their videos and those are the two I thought. I am impatiently waiting for him/her to grow. The chick has been named Aspen. That why he or she can keep the name either way. Aspen is hanging out in a tote with one of our pioneer chicks who we are going to keep and add in with our layers when they are old enough. I just hope Aspen turns out to be a girls so he/she can stay.

 

[Michael OShay]

If this was in an order of meat birds, it is likely a Jersey Giant. Putting a Blue Andalusian in a meat bird order would be a terrible mistake by a hatchery.

 

[BellaFarfalla]

Because I don't know what kind of chick it is, it's not on meat bird food. He's on chick grower and in a separate pen with another one we want to keep that is a dual purpose bird so he/she has a friend.

 

[Wyandottes7]

I'm thinking Blue Andalusian.

 

[Michael OShay]

I'm thinking Blue Andalusian.

If it is a Blue Andalusian (certainly not an impossibility), and it was shipped in an order of meat birds, that would be a horrible blunder by the hatchery (sadly, not an impossibility though).

 

[Wyandottes7]

If it is a Blue Andalusian (certainly not an impossibility), and it was shipped in an order of meat birds, that would be a horrible blunder by the hatchery (sadly, not an impossibility though).

The chick was the "free, exotic" chick that McMurray usually includes in shipments of chicks (unless specified not to). I don't think that it matters what the rest of the order is made of- either way, they'll give you a "rare" chick.

 

[Michael OShay]

The chick was the "free, exotic" chick that McMurray usually includes in shipments of chicks (unless specified not to). I don't think that it matters what the rest of the order is made of- either way, they'll give you a "rare" chick.

That makes since. Whenever I've ordered from Murray McMurray or any other hatchery, I've always declined on the free chick as they usually turn out to be cockerels.