Please help with LF ID for this mamma and her teens.

tn_artist

Free Ranging
16 Years
Apr 29, 2009
1,518
3,086
511
Wilson, NC
Hi all! It has been a while since I needed help on bird ID, mostly because we deal with almost all bantams and are pretty good with their IDs. LF, not so much.
In February my daughters signed up for the local 4H chick chain as they usually do. They chose the breeds they wanted from the list given, but something happened and Murray McMurray were not going to be able to fulfill the order. We were not told why. The 4H director found a local third party chick seller, but I know him to not be reliable on the breeds he has. Great, super nice guy, but I think he mixes his breed chicks, then doesn't know who is who. Anyway, he was great in that he gave 4H a good price and delivered quite a lot of chicks in labeled boxes.
My daughters both chose a couple of Welsummers, knowing I love them. Then, one filled her order with Turkens and the other with Delawares. The Turkens are obviously correct as they have their distinctive naked necks. The others look nothing like they should.
Please help us determine what they are. We are not even sure they will be allowed to show them if they are not on the list of breeds that were listed.
All three birds have straight combs and pink/white legs and feet.
On a separate note, both Turkens are different in size. One is the size of the birds below, the other is much smaller, almost bantam sized. This is such a train wreck. I have offered to help with 4H birds so many times, but no one has accepted the offer. (My suspicion is that the order to M McM was put in far too late, but that is just my thoughts.)
1000008483.jpg

Was in the box of Welsummers. Looks nothing like the others we had/have. Looks like a RIR to us. (Really sad that there won't be any brown eggs with darker spots as our other Welsummers are 9y)
1000008481.jpg

This one was from the Delaware box. Not even close. My daughter is so disappointed, as last year she chose Columbian rocks because she likes the black and white coloring of them. They had the boxes mixed up and she ended up with a white giant instead. Kids who chose white giant ended up with Columbians.
1000008484.jpg

This is the other chick from the 'Delaware' box. She has a few black flecks in her neck, down her back and some black in her tail and wing tips.
 
They’re definitely mixes :( You could have your daughter do showmanship with them but in my experience, they’re going to all get DQ-ed because they’re really far from any breed standard. As a kid, I’ve gotten best of show twice and had won showmanship and for me, I would really recommend birds from a show breeder. If your fair judges towards the breed standard, skipping hatcheries all the way and going straight to exhibition breeders is key to become competitive :)
 
So
They’re definitely mixes :( You could have your daughter do showmanship with them but in my experience, they’re going to all get DQ-ed because they’re really far from any breed standard. As a kid, I’ve gotten best of show twice and had won showmanship and for me, I would really recommend birds from a show breeder. If your fair judges towards the breed standard, skipping hatcheries all the way and going straight to exhibition breeders is key to become competitive :)
So Disappointing, but I suspected they were not full blooded. She has a couple of lavender Orpingtons, but doesn't want to end up losing one to the auction. They are also not on the list of breeds that were available. (I don't know if that matters or not) I thought that all area 4H had to pick from the same 4-5 breeds, but with this whole mess this year, I'm guessing it's either not a problem to include other breeds, or there were special circumstances. I wonder if the other local clubs are getting the original choices from Murray McMurray or if it was an "only our club" issue.
I just looked up TN and FL chick chains. They can hatch or purchase chicks and they have a much bigger list in FL of what you can show. In TN no specific breeds were listed. They also appear to be year long projects instead of the 6 month timeline here in NC.
I'm pretty sure this mixed breed stuff will significantly reduce the price they get for their birds. That's disappointing as it really is the main reason they do the chick chain. (College savings) They are both involved in other, non 4H shows with their bantams.
 
Thanks to all those that looked and especially those that responded. I will, once again offer to help for next year but will try to take a lead from other states books on how to handle the whole thing.
 

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