What is a Sapphire Sky?

[CrockChickens9]

Hello!
I purchased two chicks from TSC labeled Sapphire Sky pullets. They have crests? on their heads (look like Mohawks) and can potentially lay green eggs. Curious if anyone else has these? Did they in fact lay green and if anyone knows what birds likely make up this hybrid? Thanks!

 

[The Moonshiner]

They're a Legbar/ "Plymouth Blue Rock" (which isn't actually a Plymouth Rock but a cross breed similar to a Sapphire Gem)
Don't have any myself so no idea how many lay green eggs vs brown eggs.

 

[CrockChickens9]

Ok! From what I see from a quick google search they look exactly like the Plymouth blue rock but with a crest. Makes sense thank you!

 

[thlayli]

A plymouth blue rock is a cross between a barred rock hen and an Andalusian Blue rooster. So these are probably crosses of Blue Rocks (also called Sapphire Gems) and Crested Cream Legbar mixes. I say CCL mixes rather than straight CCL because the websites selling Sapphire Skys says they will lay either green or brown eggs, and CCL have two copies of the blue egg gene and should produce all green egg layers if the CCL parent is pure. So, they're pretty mutts, basically.

 

[CrockChickens9]

Thank you. So in that case there is probably a pretty good chance the eggs would be brown then? Seems more likely to be brown than green right?

 

[Bawkbok]

They're beautiful. So are they considered a production breed hybrid or just a designer hen, for lack of a better description.

 

[thlayli]

Thank you. So in that case there is probably a pretty good chance the eggs would be brown then? Seems more likely to be brown than green right?

Yes, most likely brown.

They're beautiful. So are they considered a production breed hybrid or just a designer hen, for lack of a better description.

A designer hybrid. The labradoodle of the chicken world. Hatcheries have to have a "new" thing every couple of years. Their hybrids won't breed true so if people want more of the same or certain characteristics they have to buy more.

 

[Bawkbok]

Yes, most likely brown.

A designer hybrid. The labradoodle of the chicken world. Hatcheries have to have a "new" thing every couple of years. Their hybrids won't breed true so if people want more of the same or certain characteristics they have to buy more.

Gotcha. I wonder - in the chicken world is it the same as in the dog world relative to health in that mutts are healthier for the most part than the true breeds?

 

[thlayli]

Gotcha. I wonder - in the chicken world is it the same as in the dog world relative to health in that mutts are healthier for the most part than the true breeds?

Hatchery birds are bred en masse, and "hatchery quality" purebreds are known to be smaller and less conforming to parts of the SOP that deal with the health of the animal (such as breeding and producing hens with "pinched" tails rather than the tented tails that indicate a wide pelvis appropriate for a layer or dual purpose breed), so on the whole I would say that if the hybrids they make are healthier, they are healthier than the sub-par stock they use in the first place.

 

[Bawkbok]

with the health of the animal (such as breeding and producing hens with "pinched" tails rather than the tented tails that indicate a wide pelvis appropriate for a layer or dual purpose breed),

I didn't know about the tail aspect. What breeds have the pinched tails and what does one look like?