If they are as old as you say they are, they would typically have some good saddle feathers by now to tell! Between 12 and 20 weeks, the saddle feathers usually come in good!
These chickens are 12 weeks old in my picture. You can see the one rooster I have in this group. The other two white(ish) ones have much lower and pale comes in comparison!
Some pullets can fool you with bigger and red combs. But at this size, nice good comb and red is a good sign before...
Mine do not get washed unless a hen makes a complete mess on them. Then washed and refrigerated after that. I give and sell to some people. I tell them that the little poo on there is for free! If someone does not like the fact that fresh eggs with the bloom on them are better than washed...
Ok, so I got this tiny, tiny egg today.
Two of the chicks hatched from a Polish mix blue green egg. They are mutts of mutts basically. But today I got this tiny, tiny egg. My polish mix had given me an egg today already and she's the only one that lays this color and size. So my young ones...
How do you know they are overheating? My chicks were born and raised outside in the coop by their momma hen!!! I have done nothing! We are here in FL and last week it was 102 in the shade on my back porch! Chicks and other chickens are fine. They have water and shade! They are fine.
5-6...
She's a mutt. Dad was a big Rhode island red. Momma was an Easter egger. Chicks are even more mutts. Dad is my profile picture and chicks range from mutt hens to polish and more Easter egger mixes.
Three weeks old and out and about after a rain. Raising chicks the natural hands off way has been a piece of cake! Momma hen really knows best. I let her hatch them alone. But at day three, I opened the separated area in the run, let them out and things just magically work. She protected...
Opened the door to my sectioned off part of the run to let momma hen and her chicks out to see what they would all do with each other! Momma, chicks, rooster, and other adult hens did great! When any other chicken would come close, mother hen would fluff up and growl at them and they kept...
Mother hen brought the chicks out into the run. I checked the last two eggs and I missed a non fertilized one apparently and the other had only developed about half the egg and was not going to hatch! So momma knew and is now focused on raising the hatched ones.
She's being a great mom to the...
A third and fourth are now out and FLUFFY! Another one is working on getting out of the shell! Little dark one in the middle of the picture is only a handful of hours old.
Chick # 3 has made it's debut! Unfortunately, one didn't make it out on it's own though! Found it half way zipped but not responsive or breathing etc...
How you keep them whether together with original or mixed in can make a difference too. I thought I would have enough hens to keep an additional Roo once. Well 6-7 hens per Roo wasn't enough and the new cockerel began to wear out my hens and I had to cull him into the crock pot.
Just see how...
I just let my broody hen do her thing! I marked the original 8 eggs I let her sit on and removed any that other hens laid under her!
I let nature take it's course and I am now in the chick hatching days right now and have two out and happy!
I moved her to her own area of the run with a...
I'm letting momma do all the work in a sectioned off part of my run with a brooder box type area with chick starter food and water for the chicks. Run section has food and water that only momma can get to.