Male or female

duckie · **Posted:** Wed Mar 12, 2008 10:37 am

Years ago I got some Austral Orps and they had white chest and bottoms. They coloured up perfectly as they got older. I still have a couple left and they are about six yrs old now and still laying.

greenaus · **Posted:** Wed Mar 12, 2008 11:08 pm

What colour would the offspring be with an Australorp/RIR X?

Love the sound of that extended laying. I'd be holding onto them, too, if they were still laying at six years.

I probably shouldn't put this here as it is off-topic, but...

Does anyone have a reasonably qualified answer to whether an older hen (eg. 5-6 years) is "past it" as far as laying good eggs for hatching.

I recall reading that as they get older and eggs get bigger, shell thickness decreases as there is more space cover. Anything else?

greenaus · **Posted:** Sun Mar 16, 2008 11:52 pm

I haven't got an answer to my previous question, so I hope posting more stuff doesn't bury that.

I wanted to make updated pics available.

The three Australorps are growing well and still seem to be pullets. Their combs are still smaller than any of the cockerels I swapped. However, I'm guessing their combs are due to grow more soon anyway.

The light sussex and the two RIR or New Hampshires or RIR/NH Xs seem to be pullets, so I'm a happy camper.

The lady said they appeared to her to be RIR/NH Xs. Do you agree?

The latter are the smallest of the six, but when replaced weren't as old as the cockerels I'd taken back.

The light sussex particularly, and one of the Australorps are quite "healthy" looking. And, man, whoever said these breeds love their food wasn't kidding!

Peter16 · **Posted:** Mon Mar 17, 2008 2:43 pm

They all appear to be girls to me, and the rhodie does look like a cross with hampshire, and the australorps have a lot of white in them :shock:

P.s the links throughout the post are so convenient :!:

Deans' Poultry · **Posted:** Mon Mar 17, 2008 2:46 pm

Peter16 wrote:

They all appear to be girls to me, and the rhodie does look like a cross with hampshire, and the australorps have a lot of white in them :shock:

P.s the links throughout the post are so convenient :!:

Pullets are looking good mate :-D

I'd like to see a better pic of the reds. The new hampshire and rir are very similar at that age

greenaus · **Posted:** Tue Mar 18, 2008 1:54 am

I'll get better pictures. I took 28 photos that afternoon and wasn't particularly happy with any of them. I tried too hard to avoid getting too close.

They look very red to me compared to the New Hampshire cockerel I swapped. In the absence of much real knowledge on the breeds, I wouldn't be surprised if they are pure RIR.

Pics will come in a day or two or three.

Deans' Poultry · **Posted:** Tue Mar 18, 2008 7:33 am

Yer from the pics yesterday i was tempted to say there are pure rir, but was gonna wait until some closeup headshots :-D

greenaus · **Posted:** Tue Mar 18, 2008 2:05 pm

Oh. I took the photos a little while ago before I realised you wanted head shots. I'll take them out later and get close ups.

For now, here are better photos than yesterday.

Deans' Poultry · **Posted:** Tue Mar 18, 2008 2:34 pm

Well after looking at those pics i'm tempted to say they are in fact rir x new hampshire lol :lol:

As they get older it will be easier to tell :-D

greenaus · **Posted:** Tue Mar 18, 2008 2:36 pm

At http://feathersite.com/Poultry/CGK/NH/BRKNH.html it says of New Hampshires...
"Beginning in about 1915, this dual purpose breed was developed in New Hampshire from a foundation stock of Rhode Island Reds. Supposedly no other blood was introduced during this process. The birds were selected for early maturing and large brown eggs."

Unless someone else has introduced other blood since then, how can we tell the difference?

Is it that they grow faster and mature earlier?

My two red chickens are smaller than the other 10 week olds (Australorps and Light Sussex).

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