Other chicken people will understand my upset - Rir not a hen, not even a RIR.

[VivaLeBeaver]

I see an ad on Preloved for someone local selling show quality chickens of all different breeds.

Made contact and went to see these chickens with boxes.

I kind of knew when I stepped in this blokes back garden to be faced with 300+ chickens it probably wasn't the best set up. Normal/average sized garden. But the chickens looked alright to me. I should know better, I've been keeping chickens for nearly 10 years.

Every scrap of garden was a home built aviary with chickens everywhere.

I came away with a Brahma, a Favorelle and a RIR. I picked out the first 2 specifically - pointed at the birds and said I want those ones. The RIR was in a pen with about 40 young birds of different sorts, 6 of which were RIR, the other 5 much darker than the one I've got.

When we decided what birds we were gettign he went to fetch a RIR while I went to get my box. So I didn't see him choose it and never really took much notice of what he was putting in the box.

I get it home and thought that it doesn't look much like a RIR.

I posted on Practical Poultry and everyone said they think its a cockeral (its only about 10 weeks old). Plus people have said it looks sick.

I only paid £10 for it so not the end of the world apart from I have a bloody cockeral that I can't keep. Which is why I stopped hatching eggs under a broody as I can't face killing them. And I'm worried about what might be wrong with it for my other birds. I'm so bloody stupid.

Photos are on my profile if anyone wants to tell me their opinion.

I've emailed the seller and he'll take her/him back and swap for another one. So that's good news, but I'm worried about bringing back a single chicken as it might get bullied.

Maybe I should get 2.

I have learnt my lesson buying healthy looking chickens from a ropey set up. They were all carriers of mycoplasma and infected all my chucks. Be careful out there!

It is standing very upright

That's what I'm worried about now, that they're harbouring something nasty. Fingers crossed.

Hmm does look too light for a Rhode, also does look a bit cockerel like. I got my diseased ones from Pre-loved too, they looked healthy. Best to keep them separate from the others in case they have mycoplasma. Good luck.

That looks like some kind of commercial cross (Warren style). But I thought that they were auto-sexing, those commercial breeds (ie the males and females are different colours at birth). In truth it does not look well. I think you should tackle dodgy bloke head-on. Take the bird back to him and say a) this is not a RIR and b) it is a cockerel, and c) what are you going to do about it? £10 is quite a lot for a commercial cross- they're usually about £4 POL (which this isn't, nor ever will be lol). So he diddled you. Tell him you will spread his details along with what he did far and wide unless he makes reparation.

I don't think I'm very good at spotting what looks like a healthy chicken and what doesn't - what is it about this one that makes it look unwell? I'm keen to know so I can avoid buying anymore unwell ones in the future.

Yours is crouching a little and looking a bit miz. Its tail is down and it's sort of stooping a bit.

Is it normally active or does it just hang around like that normally? It could be that it was just easier for the bloke to catch than the others. [givingthebenefitofthedoubt]

I suggest that you point out the one you want- perky looking, alert, active, nice red comb, not depressed looking. Inquisitive and friendly is fine but depends on breeds.

My three new ones are just in a small guinea pig pen at the minute, in the main chicken run. The idea being that they need to get used to my other chickens through the wire before been introduced properly.

So they haven't got a lot of room to explore at the minute. But they're all scratching about in there and watching what's going on. I was hoping to have released them into the main pen by now, but I'm having to wait till I swap this one over.

I think he just crouched down as I was there, they all seem quite nervous.

There's a bloke that does this near me - he buys up stock from auctions and then resells them at a fat profit. Dsis bought some from him when she was starting with chickens and they were (a) not standard (b) rahter elderly (c) infested with parasites

For exhibition quality birds you will pay between £70-£150 for a trio direct from a breeder. Nobody sells decent stock at auctions - breeders normally have a waiting list. I sell my pet quality birds for £10 each (i.e they're nice chickens - I just wouldn't show them because they aren't perfectly standard, so you probably haven't overpaid for the others.

That RIR is too light in colour to be a RIR and looks like a cockeral (comb shape, tail feathers, uprightness). He does looks a bit hunchy - but that might just be the pic. If he's eating and inquisitive I wouldn't be too worried.

Well he went back to the seller today who agreed he looked like a cockeral and has swapped it for one that he says looks more like a girl. Its a darker red as well. I'm not bothered about them been show quality but did want pure breeds so that they lay for more years ratehr than just the first couple of years. I don't think this one is perfect at all, she has a couple of white wing feathers.

I've got too many old, non laying hybrids eating me out of house and home!

It's good that you've swapped Viva - but these buggers shouldn't be bloody selling chickens as something which they're not.

I think the trick to the elderly hybrid issue is to only get a couple at a time so in theory your number of pensioners is low. I have a coop for 10, currently housing 8. 1 light Sussex 1 Marian, 3 ex commercial free range and 3 ex battery. I lose 2-3 a year.

I used to only have trad breeds and got used to having to buy eggs in winter but since taking on some commercial hybrids I get eggs all winter too - enough that I haven't bought chicken eggs for years and currently have 30 in the fridge (family of big egg eaters too!).

I was going to replace my 2 winter losses with trad breeds but the RSPCA got to me first and I've agreed to take some rescues from them in May (they keep a list of chicken keepers). This is a bit heretical as I love the pure breeds - but the ex batts do have far more individual characters IMO.

And of course they come already guaranteed wormed, vaccinated etc.