Stampin.Hannah
In the Brooder
Hello! Wondering if anyone can help identify this little hen's mother!
We know for sure her father is a Giant Blue Cochin (also pictured), but we're having a REALLY hard time narrowing her mother down. She's colored differently than ANY of the other chicks we've gotten from this roo (but he was the only roo we owned at the time her egg was laid, so he's the only possible father).
Our flock of laying hens (at the time) consisted of:
- SLW & GLW (plus one Blue-Laced Red who's really more of a Blue-Laced Gold, but we don't think she was quite old enough to be laying at the time)
- "toasted marshmallow" and "sand & slate" colored EEs (all with cheek tufts, and all with beards, though some beards are smaller than others. They were purchased as chicks as Araucanas, but once their tail feathers started coming in, we knew they weren't...On the bright side, they lay the brightest blue eggs, no hints of green at all, so we're still pretty happy with them) Also, do you like my color descriptions? LOL
- NNs (completely naked, all the way down past their crops, no "bowties" or other neck feathers at all)
- Barnevelders
- One random white bird (looks like SUPER diluted Columbian coloring, probably a Rock, not a Wyandotte as her comb does not resemble any of our other Wyandottes, she came with the property so no one knows what she is)
- RIR (&/or really dark Red Stars/Sexlinks, we received them from someone who had to re-home & couldn't remember what they purchased)
- Dominique (we're guessing, we got her as a re-homed Barred Rock, but her legs are much more white/pink than two other Barred Rocks we have obtained recently, and from what I can see online, we think a Dominique may be more likely, as she definitely doesn't lay eggs as dark as our Cuckoo Maran used to (RIP pretty girl))
- Buff Orpingtons
I know it's a long list, but to try to hopefully narrow it down a little in advance, we're pretty sure it's not:
- any of the NNs, as ALL of their babies so far have also been NN as well (we do see some bowties, but we figure that's to be expected, since they're only getting that gene from one parent, not both).
- (probably) not any of the EE birds, since anything that's ever hatched out of their blue shells has ended up with cheek tufts, and almost always has a white belly at hatch (this little girl was all black from day one, and just recently started lightening up to the gray color she's at currently).
Aside from those two eliminations, though...we're stumped!
She's so pretty, and we want to try to replicate her in the future ... she's the result of a hen that decided to hide some eggs and go broody while we were on vacation, so we have no idea who all was laying in that spot before she took it over...
Her "black" coloring is really more of a charcoal gray or smokey color. It's not the typical rich, saturated black we get from this rooster, nor is it the bright, pastel gray-blue coloring that we have seen from him either (one of our NN is black, so their babies are this powdery, fluffy gray, not nearly as deep OR as dimensional as the darker gray of this young hen).
With some of his other offspring, we've seen the red and gold leaking from their various brown mothers either in their neck, or at their shoulder blades, and it starts showing through their black &/or blue primary plumage...but not this little bird. She's dark gray all the way through, not even a smidgen of brown or red or gold peeking through anywhere.
It's also throwing us for a loop, because the ONLY other offspring from this rooster to have such prominent black on their legs, faces, and combs, have ALL been from the EE birds, yet she has a "clean shaven" face (no cheek tufts or beard even hinting at making an appearance).
Several pics of the pullet in question, as well as the father rooster. Anyone have any ideas?!
We know for sure her father is a Giant Blue Cochin (also pictured), but we're having a REALLY hard time narrowing her mother down. She's colored differently than ANY of the other chicks we've gotten from this roo (but he was the only roo we owned at the time her egg was laid, so he's the only possible father).
Our flock of laying hens (at the time) consisted of:
- SLW & GLW (plus one Blue-Laced Red who's really more of a Blue-Laced Gold, but we don't think she was quite old enough to be laying at the time)
- "toasted marshmallow" and "sand & slate" colored EEs (all with cheek tufts, and all with beards, though some beards are smaller than others. They were purchased as chicks as Araucanas, but once their tail feathers started coming in, we knew they weren't...On the bright side, they lay the brightest blue eggs, no hints of green at all, so we're still pretty happy with them) Also, do you like my color descriptions? LOL
- NNs (completely naked, all the way down past their crops, no "bowties" or other neck feathers at all)
- Barnevelders
- One random white bird (looks like SUPER diluted Columbian coloring, probably a Rock, not a Wyandotte as her comb does not resemble any of our other Wyandottes, she came with the property so no one knows what she is)
- RIR (&/or really dark Red Stars/Sexlinks, we received them from someone who had to re-home & couldn't remember what they purchased)
- Dominique (we're guessing, we got her as a re-homed Barred Rock, but her legs are much more white/pink than two other Barred Rocks we have obtained recently, and from what I can see online, we think a Dominique may be more likely, as she definitely doesn't lay eggs as dark as our Cuckoo Maran used to (RIP pretty girl))
- Buff Orpingtons
I know it's a long list, but to try to hopefully narrow it down a little in advance, we're pretty sure it's not:
- any of the NNs, as ALL of their babies so far have also been NN as well (we do see some bowties, but we figure that's to be expected, since they're only getting that gene from one parent, not both).
- (probably) not any of the EE birds, since anything that's ever hatched out of their blue shells has ended up with cheek tufts, and almost always has a white belly at hatch (this little girl was all black from day one, and just recently started lightening up to the gray color she's at currently).
Aside from those two eliminations, though...we're stumped!
She's so pretty, and we want to try to replicate her in the future ... she's the result of a hen that decided to hide some eggs and go broody while we were on vacation, so we have no idea who all was laying in that spot before she took it over...
Her "black" coloring is really more of a charcoal gray or smokey color. It's not the typical rich, saturated black we get from this rooster, nor is it the bright, pastel gray-blue coloring that we have seen from him either (one of our NN is black, so their babies are this powdery, fluffy gray, not nearly as deep OR as dimensional as the darker gray of this young hen).
With some of his other offspring, we've seen the red and gold leaking from their various brown mothers either in their neck, or at their shoulder blades, and it starts showing through their black &/or blue primary plumage...but not this little bird. She's dark gray all the way through, not even a smidgen of brown or red or gold peeking through anywhere.
It's also throwing us for a loop, because the ONLY other offspring from this rooster to have such prominent black on their legs, faces, and combs, have ALL been from the EE birds, yet she has a "clean shaven" face (no cheek tufts or beard even hinting at making an appearance).
Several pics of the pullet in question, as well as the father rooster. Anyone have any ideas?!
