- Mar 13, 2013
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A few weeks ago I got a great deal at the Tractor Supply Co on Black Star Chicks. Since many were 3-4 weeks old, they let me pick out 9 for 75 cents ea. I picked out 7 that had the red barred feathers since I mainly wanted hens and took two that had no red at all and were black with while on the underside. I had hoped that one of these might be a rooster since they looked so different, but did not have a white dot on the head. Now that they are getting older the 7 have varied degrees of red (everything from total red barred head and chest to just scattered red barred)... but the two that looked different are now completely Glossy Black! One of these two was much younger than the rest and already has a nice tail on her... the other one is solid black and barely has a tail.
Do all Black Stars Hens have red barred feathers, or did they get a couple of other types mixed in with the Black Stars? Both of the solid Black ones are also very LARGE. The one without hardly any tail is my biggest chick and the other is my youngest chick, but already almost as big as all of the rest. They all have full feathers and the beaks are all yellow and black.and so are the legs... except these two the beaks appear to be turning mostly black and they have grey legs. To me, these two are looking more like the pictures I've seen of young Australorps ( which would be GREAT). Is there anything special that I might look for in these two to determine the breed and sex of them? They also appear to have White skin, since the area around the eyes is now whiter than the rest of my chicks... but no white feathers, just the skin in that area.
Right now, I don't have a decent digital camera available to post pics... almost forgot, these chicks range in age from 5-8 wks old.
Do all Black Stars Hens have red barred feathers, or did they get a couple of other types mixed in with the Black Stars? Both of the solid Black ones are also very LARGE. The one without hardly any tail is my biggest chick and the other is my youngest chick, but already almost as big as all of the rest. They all have full feathers and the beaks are all yellow and black.and so are the legs... except these two the beaks appear to be turning mostly black and they have grey legs. To me, these two are looking more like the pictures I've seen of young Australorps ( which would be GREAT). Is there anything special that I might look for in these two to determine the breed and sex of them? They also appear to have White skin, since the area around the eyes is now whiter than the rest of my chicks... but no white feathers, just the skin in that area.
Right now, I don't have a decent digital camera available to post pics... almost forgot, these chicks range in age from 5-8 wks old.
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