What are these chickens?

[Cluck-a-biddy]

Hi guys! It's been a very long time since I've been on here. Went thru the Camp Fire in Paradise, CA in 2018. Lost our home, everything we had and 90% of our town. Lost our 13 chickens too. We moved about 45 min away and have been keeping chickens for over 5 yrs now, here. Having fun with incubating and mamas raising chicks. But we decided to get a few new chicks this spring when one of our broodies went thru two consecutive batches with nothing hatching, and none of the incubated eggs seemed to be viable. She only accepted one out of the 5 we got. No biggee. But... we bought two each of Golden and Black Sex-Links at Tractor Supply, and the 2 BSLs are growing up not looking like the ones we had back in Paradise; and not looking like any pics I could find of the breed. Our girls had a bit of brown on the necks or chest. These new girls have like grey or whitish feathers mixed in with the black on their chests and faces. They are a little sleeker than the other birds, have black legs and beaks, dark brown eyes (which I LOVE) and they have short straight combs and short wattles. They aren't fully mature, but getting close. I think they are about 7 mos old now. They are very skittish, and afraid of everything. They hide under the suckers on the walnut trees in the open section of our large pen. I finally got a photo of them this evening, but it's not great. I did some research, and the closest breed I could find was an Indian meat chicken called Kadaknath. The only thing is, they don't have the black skin. I'm wondering if they could be a mix of this breed and the BSL? The photo doesn't really show enough of the greyish chests. Anybody have any idea what they might be? I mean I suppose they could just be BSLs, but it seems no two BSLs look exactly alike. Ours didn't, but they both had some brown... not grey. These two look almost identical. I call them my Vampire chickens. They look very Goth, and I want to name them some sort of Vampire-ish names. Our old girls we had we named Morticia and Elvira! LOL

 

[SilverBirds]

What you went through must have been horrible. Very sorry for your losses, but I'm glad to hear you've settled in your new area.

Are they laying yet? Do you know what hatchery your TSC gets their chicks from? Most order from Hoovers, but if they came from somewhere else, they could help clue us in on what they may be. Right now, my best guess is a BSL, even though they don't look your typical of other BSL. Could also be another type of hatchery hybrid or some very poorly bred breed.

 

[sybonbon]

Black sexlinks are made from a red male and any hen with a silver gene. That makes for many different combinations from the start. I had one BSL that was all black with a little red and the other had beautiful feathers that reminded me of a sunflower or black eyed Susan. See photo. 2 BSL and 2 RSL.it all depends on the breeds used.

 

[JedJackson]

They are not black sex links. They are some type of hatchery hybrid, but I see nothing that matches them on Hoover's site. However, Hoover does sell hybrids not listed on their website at tsc and other places, so they could be one of them. I haven't seen Asian Blacks listed at any hatchery for a few years but they very much resemble that hybrid.

 

[Cluck-a-biddy]

What you went through must have been horrible. Very sorry for your losses, but I'm glad to hear you've settled in your new area.

Are they laying yet? Do you know what hatchery your TSC gets their chicks from? Most order from Hoovers, but if they came from somewhere else, they could help clue us in on what they may be. Right now, my best guess is a BSL, even though they don't look your typical of other BSL. Could also be another type of hatchery hybrid or some very poorly bred breed.

Thank you SilverBirds! The fire was a horrible experience for sure. Been hard to move on, but our chickens surely help us.

No, I don't think they are laying yet. I'm anxious to see what color their eggs will be tho. I don't know who our TSC gets their chicks from. Will ask them next time I go there. I seriously think these are some sort of hybrid birds. I think they're rather interesting. I need to get better pics of them. They're pretty trippy looking in person. And they seem so identical except one had reddish comb and wattles, and the other's are more of a black color.

 

[Cluck-a-biddy]

Black sexlinks are made from a red male and any hen with a silver gene. That makes for many different combinations from the start. I had one BSL that was all black with a little red and the other had beautiful feathers that reminded me of a sunflower or black eyed Susan. See photo. 2 BSL and 2 RSL.it all depends on the breeds used.

I had no idea they actually had red genes. Makes sense tho, as so many do have red or what I would call brown markings. Our old girls were very sweet and great egg layers. These girls are sooo scared of everything. I think it's because they got out into the open area of the pen that we had closed off to sequester some roosters that we were waiting to rehome. Took a long time to do so and maybe those boys hassled them when they were younger. I don't know. There's a female EE in the mix and one of the GSLs, and they are all very scared of everything. Especially us.

 

[Cluck-a-biddy]

They are not black sex links. They are some type of hatchery hybrid, but I see nothing that matches them on Hoover's site. However, Hoover does sell hybrids not listed on their website at tsc and other places, so they could be one of them. I haven't seen Asian Blacks listed at any hatchery for a few years but they very much resemble that hybrid.

I think you are right. They must be some sort of hybrid. I'll be anxious to see their eggs and to see how they look when they're fully mature.