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Basque - chick colors

Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 11:55 am
by Shnookie
I hatched 8 Basque chicks June 3. 4 hatched from each breeding pen. One pen had a 3 year old rooster and a 4 year old hen, the other had a 4 year old rooster and three 11 month old pullets. Now that they are feathering out, I think I have several white ones, and several males. They are all mixed together so I don't know which ones are from which breeding. I may be able to tell later. They are 3 weeks old. I have a few more EO eggs in the incubator from the 3 year old rooster and the 4 year old hen, so if they hatch I will be able to see which ones from this hatch are theirs (maybe).

I got one this color. I think it is a female, but it is always sitting on top of the feeder like males do.
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There are 6 this color. One of them has a darker comb than the rest.
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And there is 1 that is quite white with a bit of light brown. This is not what I expected to get as far as colors. Is there any chance the light ones are females?

Re: Basque - chick colors

Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 1:44 pm
by kenya
I think the first ones a male the 2nd a female, but its been a while since I hatched any EO's

Re: Basque - chick colors

Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2017 9:34 am
by Helliefant
Generally speaking, the boys will start looking "spotty" and the girls will stay more brown. Also, the tail will be plainer on the females. It's a great question! I'm going to ask the peeps on the North American Basque Hen Facebook page and get back to you!
Any more pics?

Re: Basque - chick colors

Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2017 3:13 pm
by Shnookie
They will be 4 weeks old this weekend. I will take some more pictures then. I believe there was some discussion a few years ago on the Basque forum that the white EOs that people get in Canada are always male. I am pretty sure that 5 are males - sit on feeders, rush over to pick my fingers when I put my hand in, have fuller tails (tails are not all barred though), one has a darker comb.

Re: Basque - chick colors

Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2017 9:14 pm
by Flat Rock Farm
The first one looks like a young cockerel but it's iffy. The second one looks like a cockerel to me.

Here are couple of mine, first one is a pullet, second one is a cockerel.