I've been lurking on this thread for a while, and just finished skimming every last page. Whew! That took a whole week...
I've learned some things, and I've been very pleased about how nice everyone is. It's hard on a thread this size, when people keep popping in and asking questions that have been asked and answered many times before. So thanks for that! I personally appreciate it, and I'm sure that it makes it easier for people to want to join in the conversation.
Here's my Ameraucana story. Earlier this year, the lovely and talented CityGirlintheCountry sent me a dozen eggs. The most spectacular packing job I've ever seen! As a result of that, I got a fabulous hatch. Ten little BBS babies.
Awww, how cute is that? Sugar is one of my best broodies!
Fast forward almost 12 weeks. I now have 9 pretty teenagers. I'm starting to feel comfortable with saying that I have 2 boys and 7 girls. Hope I don't jinx myself with those fateful words! That was really the point of looking at every post on the thread. I wanted to check out everybody else's juveniles, and see what the consensus was on male/femaleness.
Here are some pictures from the last couple of weeks.
This is Blackjack. He's been a confirmed roo since he was a tiny little thing. He had serious comb action going on, and was twice as big as any of his hatchmates.
And this is Uncle Whitey, my splash roo. Confirmed by his flowing tail, as well as his sneak-attack mating philosophy. He was about 10 weeks old in this picture, and has a lot more tail now.
I thought that I didn't like the look of a splash bird, but I must confess that Uncle Whitey is my favorite out of the whole hatch. He's adorable, extremely smart, and friendly. He's the only splash we hatched.
There are two little black pullets. My faves out of the females. They are so friendly that it's hard to walk in the pen without trampling them. It's really hard to tell them apart, and I need to get a good picture of at least one of them. They are so cute!
There are 5 blues that I think are pullets. One is iffy in the comb department, but the body looks so hennish, so different from my little boys, that I'm crossing my fingers and saying she's a girl. She is the darkest of the blues.
Here is one of the lighter blue hens. (With Uncle Whitey in the background.)
And another. This one is the least "developed" of them. I like this picture because I think her head looks so tiny with her oversized beard. Silly, huh?
I'm crazy about these little birds! They are so very sweet. When I come out the back door, they all take flight across their pen so they can meet me at the gate. It's the cutest thing ever!
Thanks a million CityGirl! (And I promise to take some updated pictures this weekend. They are growing and changing every day.)