Barred Rock Roosters babies

[Kurczaklover]

Our first hatched chicks from our flock. Dad is a Barred Rock, and the 2 shell broken were a white one from Banana, our Leghorn, and a pale almost pink egg from Speckles, an Easter Egger. A little surprised, I thought read that the leghorn mix would be gray with ghost barring. Yet here we are almost identical babies, one has more buff on the tips of its wings, but no clue which is which. Will this change? Curious, too about egg color.

 

[NatJ]

A little surprised, I thought read that the leghorn mix would be gray with ghost barring.

That is what I have read too. I will be curious to see how they look as they grow!

Our first hatched chicks from our flock. Dad is a Barred Rock, and the 2 shell broken were a white one from Banana, our Leghorn, and a pale almost pink egg from Speckles, an Easter Egger. A little surprised, I thought read that the leghorn mix would be gray with ghost barring. Yet here we are almost identical babies, one has more buff on the tips of its wings, but no clue which is which. Will this change? Curious, too about egg color.

Egg color:
Barred Rock father x Leghorn mother should lay brown eggs
Barred Rock father x EE that lays pink should also lay brown eggs

If you post a picture of Speckles the Easter Egger, it would be easier to predict what the chick will look like when it grows up. There may also be some detail like comb type that could help figure out which chick is hers.

Pictures of the Barred Rock and the Leghorn might be good too, since you clearly have a chick with unexpected color. There is a chance that the parents are not the breeds you think they are, or that they have genes not normal for their breed.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Different things could be going on but to me the most likely is that your leghorn is not a pure leghorn but is actually a leghorn cross. I don't have any idea what she would be crossed with but she is probably split for dominant white and that chick inherited the not-dominant white gene. I don't know where you got her, this is just speculation.

An EE is not a breed, there are no standards, so they could be anything as far as color goes. The black and barring from the Barred Rock are pretty dominant so you can expect both chicks to grow up basically black barred. You can get leakage, which means some feathers could show other colors, but mainly black barred.

In theory you should get some shade of brown eggs from both if they are pullets but egg shell color genetics can get messy. It's possible you can get a surprise but it really should be some shade of brown.

There may also be some detail like comb type that could help figure out which chick is hers.

Another possible detail is leg color.

 

[Kurczaklover]

Banana, our Leghorn came from Tractor Supply last spring, but our EE came from a small local feed store, and I feel pretty confident they are mutts, from a hen who laid green or blue eggs, and just called EE's. Banana was names for her yellow legs which is hard to see in the picture. Mr. Peter is my barred rock rooster, and Speckles is one of the EE we have but unlike the others, her markings strongly favor my golden laced wyandottes.

 

[3KillerBs]

I feel pretty confident they are mutts, from a hen who laid green or blue eggs, and just called EE's.

There are no standards for EEs.

Anything that lays a blue/green egg and isn't an Ameraucana, a Legbar, or another named and standardized colored egg breed is an EE.

(And EEs can lay any color egg -- though I *personally* think it's false advertising to call a brown, tan, or cream layer an EE).

 

[NatJ]

Banana, our Leghorn came from Tractor Supply last spring, but our EE came from a small local feed store, and I feel pretty confident they are mutts, from a hen who laid green or blue eggs, and just called EE's. Banana was names for her yellow legs which is hard to see in the picture. Mr. Peter is my barred rock rooster, and Speckles is one of the EE we have but unlike the others, her markings strongly favor my golden laced wyandottes.

Banana might be a California White. They are a hybrid that have white feathers with some black specks (I think I see one on her), and only have one copy of the Dominant White gene. So a California White would be able to produce some black chicks, not just white ones. Other than that, they are a lot like White Leghorns.

I see that Speckles the Easter Egger has a single comb, so you won't be able to sort the chicks out by comb type. Her chick may grow up to show some red in the shoulders (if male) or breast (if female), which might be one way to identify it.

 

[Kurczaklover]

Update. Just found these two under another hen. I suspect the blond, very vocal chick may be Banana's. The other is a obviously just born turken chick. Nadia's baby. I added a Mason jar of hot water wrapped in a towel with it into the brooder to keep an eye on.

 

[Kurczaklover]

Poor things.

 

[NatJ]

Update. Just found these two under another hen. I suspect the blond, very vocal chick may be Banana's.

That is more what I would expect from a Leghorn or Leghorn-like hen.

Did you find any more empty eggshells? Or did you keep track of how many eggs of what color the hens were sitting on?

The other is a obviously just born turken chick. Nadia's baby. I added a Mason jar of hot water wrapped in a towel with it into the brooder to keep an eye on.

Is there a reason you didn't leave it with the hen?

 

[Yardmom]

When they are a little older you might be able to tell by the ear lobe which are her chicks. I can still see white ear lobs on some of my birds 4 generations down the line.