Bobtail

I've been puzzling over the color of this pullet.  It's out of Buff-Laced Sebright x Mottled Black Cochin.  It's one of the very few hatchlings I've been sure of parentage.  This one was in the batch that was in the incubator.  If I had any doubts about her parents, her comb proves her Sebright dam.  It's definitely a rose comb.  She appears to have the soft feathers of the cochin as well as feathered legs. 

The camera did a pretty good job of capturing the color.  You might think it's just a dingy white but it's not.  Usually white chicks start out yellow and get whiter as they grow.  This one started out white and got darker.  There was nothing in its environment that could have stained the feathers that buffy gray shade.  If this was a rabbit it might be ermine or frosty.  In person, it has a slight chocolatey cast.

This white chick is not that pullet, but it's very close to how she looked at hatching, including some random black spots.

So where does the title of this blog come from?  On the way to something else, I came across this article about an unusual chicken color.  It's called Bobtail.  No explanation for why someone thought that was a good name for this color.  I do believe that's what this pullet is.  According to the Chicken Color Calculator, Buff Laced x Mottled produces white, but apparently not exactly.  I tried to sell her since I wanted to get the breeding flock to just purebred Cochins, but no one was buying that day.  I decided to keep her to see how she grows up.  She might add some interesting color genes to the flock.

Just a couple more of the young birds.

  

I just love the partridges!  She hopped up here and seemed to be asking for her picture to be taken.

Not sure what to call these two.  Well, I'm sure the one on the left is the cockerel and the right is the pullet.  But are they buff or are they red?  I think the roo is red which would be cool.  He's the darkest of the bunch and his tail seems to be retaining some black feathers.  Rhode Island Reds have black tails.  The 2 pullets could go either way...dark buff or light red.  [shrug]


tnt