Will there be enough difference in the eggs?

[Nana2KJS]

I'm pretty sure that the three partridge rocks we hatched earlier this spring have turned out to be two roos and one little hen:

We'd like to incubate a few more when they are old enough for the one to be laying, but I don't want to end up with rock/bo crosses, and we already have two year-old buff orpington hens. Do you think there will be any noticeable difference in the eggs? Separating everyone is easier said than done. We probably won't keep the roos around very long ... not sure the neighbors would appreciate them, but I would like to hatch a few more of the partridge rocks, if we can tell the difference in the eggs.

 

[gritsar]

You cannot tell the difference in the taste of the eggs between fertile and non-fertile and they are the same nutritionally. To see the difference you have to look real close and know what you're looking for.
I'm not convinced you have two roosters there. Maybe one roo and one hen that is closer to laying time than the other. Would have to see better side shots of the bodies to be sure.

 

[Nana2KJS]

I mostly meant shell color - the bo eggs are lightish brown/tan. Will the rocks be enough different to tell which are which?

The feathering on the smallest is more similar to the largest. That's why we thought perhaps two roos. The one in the middle has more barring, the other two have more irridescent feathers on their backs. Wouldn't hurt my feelings, though, to have just one roo. My little grandsons have named them all ... I hate to have to "lose" one.

ETA - if they all hatched at the same time, would one mature more quickly than the other? Little Rex on the far right has always been the smallest, even though "he" hatched first and the others hatched hours later.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
The tale of my two roos - Hatched together, raised together in the same brooder. Three other cockerels went bye-bye at 7 weeks, leaving just the two with 18 pullets. My subordinate rooster didn't develop for the longest time. He was way behind the alpha. Heard the sub. crow like two times, always when the alpha was good and far away.
Re-homed the alpha and my subordinate roo bloomed overnight.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I just love partridge rocks! They are one of my favorites.

I think you should be able to tell the difference between your orp and your rock eggs, especially since your orps are a couple of years older. Hopefully you'll be able to see a difference in color and size. I think you do need to wait until the pullet's eggs are a certain size, though, before you use them for hatching, to be most successful. Maybe look over in the hatching section for information on that.

If you do end up having trouble telling the eggs apart, you can always separate the rocks for a couple of days, to collect eggs. You could also just hatch them all and sell the chickens that you don't want to keep. They will still be pretty, great layers, have nice personalities and hybrid vigor. If you sell the extra roos, you can just sell the mixed breed pullets at the same time. If you process the extra roos, you could also process the extra mixed pullets.