Tansie
In the Brooder
- Jun 20, 2015
- 30
- 1
- 22
I have four chicks who are going to be five weeks old on Sunday. Two of them have beaks going black and I don't know if it is normal or not because I'm a first time hatcher. I have no idea what their breeds are, I bought them as fertilised eggs and was told they are "mixed buff crosses".
Two of them are identical, one has a normal looking beak and the other has black at the top of it's beak. It went black a few weeks ago and I assumed it was because it had pulled apart a newspaper that I out under the woodshavings to make clean up easier. I took the newspaper out and replaced it with a waterproof table cloth instead but the beak is still black. I took photos of both of the chicks for comparison
While I was taking the pictures another chick (who loves the camera) kept getting in the way, but when I looked back at those photos, it looks like their beak is also going black right at the top.
The other two chicks are happy and their beaks look fine. They are eating chick crumbs and I throw out peas and sweetcorn when they are in their run outside. It might be worth noting that the white one with a black beak is bottom of the peaking order, and is very submissive
Two of them are identical, one has a normal looking beak and the other has black at the top of it's beak. It went black a few weeks ago and I assumed it was because it had pulled apart a newspaper that I out under the woodshavings to make clean up easier. I took the newspaper out and replaced it with a waterproof table cloth instead but the beak is still black. I took photos of both of the chicks for comparison
While I was taking the pictures another chick (who loves the camera) kept getting in the way, but when I looked back at those photos, it looks like their beak is also going black right at the top.
The other two chicks are happy and their beaks look fine. They are eating chick crumbs and I throw out peas and sweetcorn when they are in their run outside. It might be worth noting that the white one with a black beak is bottom of the peaking order, and is very submissive
I did wonder if it was because they drink from a bottle and not a bowl? I was fed up of changing their water 8 times a day so taught them to use a bottle left over from my pet mice
