I love the Walking Dead!This mystery chick I ordered online has really got me stumped. She's got the build of an orpington chick, the cheeks of an ameraucana or d'uccle, the leg feathering of a cochin, and the coloring of a who-knows-what. I guess I won't know until she's older. The poor thing has also been having problems with her right eye watering and getting stuck shut. I think it started when some of her ridiculously fluffy down got stuck in her eyelid, but it's slowly getting better, I think.
Michonne, one of my home-grown mixes. She's a cross between a black sexlink hen named Gladys and an unknown rooster--possibly our Easter Egger Gryff, but I will have to wait for more clues before I can offer a better guess. My husband fell instantly in love with her--she hatched just as he came home from work in the wee hours of the morning, and immediately named her after his favorite Walking Dead character. Somehow appropriately, a couple of feathers on Michonne's right wing grew ridiculously long--longer than her body!--almost like her namesake character's sword. Michonne has stayed in the brooder along with Ninja, a black bantam cochin, while all of their hatchmates have graduated to the chicken coop. Because of her awkward wings, she doesn't move as nimbly as the others, and I want to give her some time to grow into them before I chuck her in with the rest of the flock.
One of my mystery chicks. I suspect she is a speckled sussex, just because I already have three and she is the spitting image of them at that age.
Ninja, a bantam cochin mutt. Mama is buff colored, believe it or not. Not sure if he's male or female, but he has the absolute SOFTEST down I've ever felt, even at nearly 2 weeks old. A total sweetie, Ninja is a fan favorite on the webcam. [COLOR=B42000]
[/COLOR] Yang, my Ameraucana chick. I'm not very good at vent sexing yet, but I think this one is the boy.
Yin, my female(?) Ameraucana chick. I ordered blues, and it looks like I got a black and a splash which--quite frankly--I'm even happier with. These guys will grow up to be a couple of very pampered chickens.
One of the mystery chicks--I still haven't figured this one out. The brown is VERY rich with reddish undertones and a distinctly white breast and a touch of white to the down on the shoulders. The legs are pink, but the feathers are not yet developed enough to offer any clues.
This mystery chick is going to prove especially tricky because it looks like it's going to be pure white... a color variation that's available in pretty much EVERY breed, including Jersey Giants, Plymouth Rocks, and so on. At least I can rule out cornish cross by the fact that it's growing at a perfectly normal rate.
This poor red and yellow chick was trying so hard to enjoy a good nap, but his broodmates were too busy running around and jumping and generally making such a fuss that he just couldn't relax.
I would REALLY like to know what this chick is. I've been calling him(?) Warpaint. He's a pretty nifty chick, and is much more agreeable towards being handled than his fellows.
I was going to clean out the brooder and put down fresh bedding, but when I started scooping up the shavings, I discovered why we've been going through feed so quickly! The upside is, once I revealed the wealth of food under their feet, the chicks were very excited to start scratching around and hunting for it themselves. I will go ahead and clean out the shavings within the next day or two, but for now they're having a grand ol' time digging through it.
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