Black Orpington x BLRW

[SpicyDill]

 

[SpicyDill]

The littlest one didn't survive. I hatched 5 eggs in an incubator, as well, and they were fertilized by the same rooster. In the end, I've got 4 chicks with varying degrees of black (moms being white leghorn, silverudd's, EE, and a supermutt), 1 red (EE mom), 1 blue (Silverudd's mom), and 1 that hasn't fluffed up but I believe is another red (suspected RIR mom). I can't wait to see how they look when they get real feathers in.

It was my first time using an incubator, but I'm glad we had it since the hen hatches didn't go well this year. It's all cleaned out and ready for the more exotic eggs that I bought and anxiously awaiting shipment on.

 

[SpicyDill]

I can tell which one is definitely a cockerel.

The two older ones (from the hen hatch, vs. the younger three which are from an incubator trial run) are a much lighter color than the other two black chicks. Could they possibly feather out blue? The probably-cockerel's mother was either my white leghorn or her daughter (crossed with a swedish flower x colored dorking roo, she is all white with a few blue feathers), and the one standing in front of him is mothered by a splash silverudd's blue. So theoretically, they could carry a copy of the blueing gene. Or are they just ... a lighter shade of black?