Allie & Bino, the albino orpington chicks

[chippysmom327]

Yesterday, I had two (what I believe to be) albino chicks hatch out of orpington eggs. I plan to keep them, but their vision is very poor which makes it hard for them to eat and drink. They get their eyes pecked a lot by the other chicks, since chicks peck red and I'm using an EcoGlow rather than a heat lamp.

I only have pictures of Allie, who has some stuff still hanging out of the navel, but it's drying up slowly but surely.

I'm hoping to keep this thread to document their lives so that if anyone in the future has albino babies, they can find this when they search the web. I couldn't really find anything when I did searches, so I'm kinda just winging it.

 

[chiques chicks]

I'm amazed by these chicks, and there is a reason:

These were my eggs.

Before anyone asks for some, let me day this: I have NEVER had this happen before, and I've hatched over 100 eggs from my birds.

For the geneticists: there are no white orpingtons involved in this. My orpingtons are a lemon cuckoo rooster with limited barring and five BBS orpingtons. There are also offspring of these. Also added this year was a partridge Orpington rooster and s lavender rooster I am babysitting.

Hopefully at some point I can upload some pictures of my birds if it helps.

I love seeing these two!

 

[chippysmom327]

Updated pictures of Allie and Bino. 3 and a half weeks old.

 

[chiques chicks]

Bino at 20? Weeks. He actually behaved rather well for a short photo session.

 

[chippysmom327]

Update: Allie and Bino are eating and drinking on their own, and have started to scratch. This is HUGE, as the only albino chicks that I could find in my searches died because they couldn't learn how to eat or drink by themselves.

They still stand there and their heads swivel back and forth, kind of like the motion a person's eyes make when they're really dizzy.

 

[sourland]

Keep updating - I am really intrigued by this. Good luck with them.

 

[chippysmom327]

Allie and Bino drinking with their siblings. See Bino's comb? He's on the right. Obviously a roo

. Oh well.

 

[chiques chicks]

The four eggs and four babies. As you can see, it is pie chance and they are very varied.

When I separated the white one to give it vitamins, it started chirping for its friends. They don't seem to be picking on it. I keep them in a very dim room with a red heat lamp at chippy's suggestion.

 

[HomesteaderWife]

Thank you! Love your username btw. I want to be a homesteader when I'm older

Thank you! I am only 21, but my husband and I decided from the start that we wanted to reignite the homesteading flame that our grandparents left for us. I come from a chicken and gardening family, he comes from cattle/handy-work/wood-cutting roots. We were sitting down one day and discussing the ways we were brought up, and began to soon talk about homesteading for good. So now I am working from home, and right beside him building (but alone in raising a little garden, haha!) It is very rewarding, and I look back and realize that I spent nearly 6 years of my life working part and full time jobs, never having time to do much. I love where I am now!

I recommend the book "The Backyard Homestead" - excellent starter guide to homesteading!

And as said, I can't wait for more pictures of these babies!

 

[chiques chicks]

Not sure of the genetics, but believe it is recessive. The color birds I get would indicate it is.

Here is a picture from this week's hatch.

These are from both flocks, two generations. There is an albino on the far right.
The albinos tend to be smaller and slower to develop, particularly the first few days.

You see few albino because they are generally culled since they don't meet SOP. They are more of a novelty.