# Auction Chicks & Hen :)



## bkenright

I got a hen with 4 chicks at an auction a month and a half ago. I'm guessing that the chicks are mixed, but I don't really know for sure and I have no idea what breed the hen is. The chicks all have feathered feet and some seem to have top knots/mohawks going on as well. I would appreciate any guesses on breed or gender. I think the all white is a roo, maybe. (Sorry the pics aren't closer, I broke my leg and that is as close as I could get.) Thanks! :what:








Mama Hen & Darker Brown Chick








All White Chick, Lighter Brown Chick, and White with Brown Chest Chick


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## bkenright

Sorry, I realized that I had 2 of the same picture earlier, so I took 1 off. Here's a different picture.


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## littlelimabean

If they all have feathered legs and little poofs my only guess is they have 1 parent that is a Silkie. I think the large hen may be a Columbian. I am only guessing. Nice looking birds they are very cute!


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## robin416

Except that the two whites shouldn't be white. Silkies are recessive white which means it takes two Silkies to make white.

With that pink skin it has to be some other top knotted/feather footed breed.


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## robin416

These are other recessive white breeds: Dorkings, Plymouth Rocks, Wyandottes, Minorcas, Orpingtons


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## bkenright

Thanks! (By the way, if you see this twice, please ignore one. I was having technical difficulties.) If it helps, I THINK that they all only have 4 toes, but they don't like to stand still, so I could be wrong. Also, the all white and darker brown chicks have grayish beaks and the white with tan and lighter brown chicks have yellowish beaks. Sorry I forgot to mention that in the first post, but I was hurrying to finish before my lunch was done. Any guesses on gender?


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## robin416

It appears that Cochin is also recessive white. Its going to take more digging to find all of them but the cochin explains the feathered legs.


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## bkenright

Thank you Robin! I found a better picture of Mama Hen. She does look kind of like a Columbian Wyandotte, but she has tan on her feathers too. Sorry the first was a bad picture. This is from shortly after I brought her home. Do Columbians come in more colors? I've tried looking for pictures of hens like her, but haven't had any luck.








Oh the babies have grown so fast!








Here's Mama's close-up. She wasn't too sure she liked me when I brought her home.


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## Fiere

Momma is a mixed breed. I can see a fair bit of leghorn in there. Plymouth Rock is more like than Wyandotte for the columbian features but I'd wager she's not a half and half mix of anything with all that brown smutting. Columbian Plymouth Rock X parent and a leghorn parent maybe.
She's a pretty hen, regardless.

Couldn't tell you were the chicks got crests and feathered feet at.


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## Fiere

Is it possible she was crossed with a silkie mix who was dominant white to get those chicks, Robin?


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## robin416

Yes, except dom white Silkies are very rare at this point. They were still questioning whether pure whites from paints were dom white or not. Your little boy might be the answer to that question.

The biggest issue is the pink skin on her white chicks. I had enough cross breeds hatch that the darker skin always showed on the chicks, never any pink skin. And as I type I think, "Wait, maybe pink would show with dom white." Silkie paints were known to have pink patches in some birds. If the Silkie was dom white then I would think its possible for more pink to pop out on a cross to another breed. 

Now that I'm out I can't experiment to see if that's what happens. You've got Marshmallow so you could be the test lab.


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## Fiere

Marshmallow went missing last week. I can only assume my daughter didn't latch the door properly and he managed to muster all his silkie strength and squeeze himself out of it, because the silkie are all kept in a repurposed rabbit hutch on my deck. Not a feather to be found of him 

I had a rooster from a silkie cross roo who was dominant white. His momma was a white mutt, his daddy was this fella:








The father had remnants of a crest, five toes and of course the comb. I highly doubt he was a first generation cross. But I assumed the hen was dominant white and that's why she threw the dominant white roo. She laid her egg in another's nest and the only reason I know it wasn't the hatching chickens get was because of the dominant white. The others in the nest looked like the father or like buff (he mother was very light buff) polish chickens with five toes and great big crests (from the father). This dominant white boy was pink skinned, pink cheeked, feather footed, and he was white white white with that yellowing to the saddle and hackle we talked about (not gold gene). 
I didn't breed him because he was neurotic and untrustworthy.


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## robin416

I read a couple of days ago that the yellow will show in out crossings that are recessive white. I need to see if I can find that again just so I'm not telling you the wrong thing. I'll go see if I can track it down again.

Shoot, on Marshmallow. I was so looking forward to whatever chicks he produced.


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## robin416

Here, see what you think about this: http://www.the-coop.org/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=33200

I'm surprised I found this so fast.


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## bkenright

Thank you both for all of the information! Fiere, I'm very sorry to hear about your Marshmallow and I hope he turns up for you, safe and sound. Also, that is a very pretty rooster! Robin, that was a very interesting link. I don't know anything about chicken genetics, but from what I understand about dog genetics and colors, it does make sense. 

I wondered if Mama was a mix, but didn't know for sure. I do think she's pretty though, whatever she is. Thanks again! 

B


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## robin416

You're more than welcome. Questions like yours actually helps remind us of what we know and what might be interesting to investigate. Fiere is so much better than I am at explaining things genetic. I understand a lot of it but to talk about it I'm useless.

Many of those mixes make for some stunning birds. I really like your girl's markings. But I have a thing for white birds that have minimal darker markings. That's why I liked my paints and my silver spangled Hamburgs.


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## allbrite21

What about the mama having any Delaware? Mine looks quite a bit like her, maybe more white, but she's supposed to be 'pure'.


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## Fiere

Hahaha I don't know if I'm better at explaining genetics, Robin, versus I explain them over and over and over in the same post until they make sense to me - and hopefully someone else!
It does absolutely rot about Marshmallow. My daughter is beside herself and swears she didn't leave the latch undone, but she's 6 so likely didn't notice. I know I didn't do it as I had no reason to open the nest box door, I feed them through the opposite end. Hopefully he turns up but a little white bird alone around here might as well be holding a big flag that says "Kill Me", pair that with the fact he was slow to walk, unable to fly, and never, ever looked up... I'm not holding out hope. Makes me mad though, 5 more birds in that pen and I would've given every single one to keep my daughters roo - and of course he was the only one to go missing.

Delaware are supposed to have checking in the black. They have columbian markings, with the black collar and tail, but the black feathers should actually have barring on them - not be solid black. That being said a purebred bird can exhibit smutting (smutting being a colour where a colour should not be, so black flecks through the body plumage of a white bird), so if you have a Delaware with some body flecks don't discount her yet, but she should be barred, not solid, black on her collar and tail.


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## bkenright

Fiere, I would let you have my little white roo, but unfortunately I don't live near you. Besides, you would probably rather have a pure bred rooster. If the one in your profile picture is your missing Marshmallow, he was a very pretty bird. I'm sorry for the loss of your daughter's roo. I hope you can find another that she likes as well.


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## Fiere

That is very kind. Marshmallow was my daughters silkie rooster. I got her a bunch of chicks and every single last one of them was a boy, Marshmallow just happened to be the one she took to straight away, named, and treated like a house cat. 

The one in my profile is my bantam frizzled Cochin. He would be a pet if he wasn't such a jerk, so his only jobs are to win shows and make babies that look even better than he does haha.


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## WeeLittleChicken

The hen looks like a Light Brahma mix to me - they have feathered feet too. Great birds. Pretty too.


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## bkenright

Thank you Wee Little Chicken! I do think she is pretty, even if I don't know what she is! She doesn't have feathered feet though, just the chicks.


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## WeeLittleChicken

No, but they still may have gotten their feathered feet from some Brahma genes... I don't know how that gene works but it's a theory.


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## bkenright

You're right, it is something to think about. Thanks!


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