Brizi's Chick Growth Tracking (Updated 04/01) Week 6

Brizi

Songster
Feb 22, 2023
137
435
136
Alabama
On February 17th of 2023, I picked up 4 chicks. I got a Jersey Giant, a Leghorn, a New Hampshire Red, and a Silver Laced Wyandotte. They were all labeled as pullets, but the local store I got them from said that they come from Hoover's Hatchery or local farms, so I'm a bit worried. I'll be updating the thread every week!

03/09/23 UPDATE
I guess someone at the store messed up. The Buff Orpington is actually a Leghorn!

03/16/23 UPDATE
The SLW developed big red wattles and a red comb. We noticed tiny wattles coming in on 03/09/23. By 03/11/23, we noticed that the wattles were turning red. By 03/15/23, the wattles were much bigger and they were firetruck red. We drove to a nearby farm and we compared him to some Golden Laced Wyandottes that they had. Our 4 week old SLW had bigger, redder wattles than all of the 5 week old GLW chicks. He also had a very red comb, whereas the GLW chicks had very pale pink combs. We decided to give him over to the farm. We do want a rooster eventually, but we'd much prefer not to right now.

We took home a 5 week old Golden Cuckoo Maran from the farm. She's so calm and gentle. Our girls were a bit suspicious of her at first, but they warmed up to her by the end of the night. I'll post pictures of her in the next weekly update!

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WEEK 1


Jersey Giant
- This little one is definitely the least friendly of the bunch right now. It has suuuper tiny wings!

JJ_Week1.jpg



Leghorn - I'm particularly worried that this one is a cockerel. I know it's too early to tell, but it has already developed a decent comb. 😬

BO_Week1.jpg



New Hampshire Red - This one is my favorite. It's very friendly and sweet. It's been feathering out quite quickly, which apparently the breed is known for.

NHR_Week1.jpg



Silver Laced Wyandotte - This one is a little flighty, but not as much as the Jersey Giant. It's also got tiny wings like the Jersey Giant. I'm assuming it'll take a while to figure this one out because of the comb type.

SLW_Week1.jpg
 
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On 02/17/23, I picked up 4 chicks. We've got a Jersey Giant, a Buff Orpington, a New Hampshire Red, and a Silver Laced Wyandotte. They were all labeled as pullets. 😬

I'll be updating the thread every week!

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WEEK 1


Jersey Giant
- This little one is definitely the least friendly of the bunch right now. It has very tiny wings. The breed is slow to mature, so this one is going to be the most interesting, I think.
View attachment 3414175View attachment 3414177


Buff Orpington
- I'm particularly worried that this one is a roo. I know it's super early, but it has already developed a little comb...

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New Hampshire Red
- This one is my favorite. Super friendly and sweet. I'm really hoping this one is a hen.
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Silver Laced Wyandotte
- This one is a little flighty, but not as much as the Jersey Giant. It's also got small wings like the Jersey Giant. I'm assuming it'll take a while to figure this one out because of the comb type.
View attachment 3414185
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I’ll be following! :D
 
WEEK 2


The chicks appear to be doing well. They're super active, digging and jumping and fluttering about! I've found some videos on YouTube of these breeds at 4 to 5 weeks old, so I'm hoping that will help me confirm that they're female when the time comes. 🤞


Jersey Giant - This chick has started to tame down a bit. Also, it's a CHONKER. The way it walks around so heavy-like, we joke that it's actually an emu. 🤣 I haven't weighed it, but it feels so heavy compared to the other chicks! It still has fairly small wings, and there is only a teeny tiny comb present.

JJ_Week2.jpg



Leghorn - This chick is adventurous and quite friendly! Its wings look to be feathering out super nicely. The comb has grown, but I'm not seeing any hints of pink or red yet.

BO_Week2.jpg



New Hampshire Red - This chick is still a sweetie. It's hopped in my lap on multiple occasions, happy to climb up the sleeves of my robe! It's starting to develop a comb, bigger than the Jersey Giant's, but smaller than the Leghorn's. It's quite a confident little chick.

NHR_Week2.jpg



Silver Laced Wyandotte - This pretty chick has taken the spot for the flightiest of the bunch. I think I'm making some progress getting it used to having my hands in the cage, but it will shake its head angrily and flap about if I try to hold it. It seems to be feathering slower, like the Jersey Giant.

SLW_Week2.jpg
 
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WEEK 3


We're at the point where we're referring to all of them as females. The Wyandotte seems a little suspicious, but we're thinking the others are pullets. I know it's still too early to know for certain, but hopefully we're right.


Jersey Giant - We've named her Emma, or Emma the Emu. She's got a super long neck and she stomps around like an emu or an ostrich. She's not super flighty, but she doesn't like being held. She has tail feathers coming in as of a few days ago. Her comb is finally starting to develop a decent bit. There is no wattle development at all.

JJ_Week3.jpg



Leghorn - It turns out that the "Buff Orpington" is actually a Leghorn. That's fine, I guess. 😅 She's a big sweetheart. She does have quite a large comb, but it's not pink or red at all. She has a very, very tiny bit of wattle development.

LH_Week3.jpg



New Hampshire Red - We've named her Clover. She's a sweetie like the Leghorn, and she has a calmer demeanor than the others. She'll climb up on my arms and sit down for a nap. ❤️ She has a slight bit more wattle development than the Leghorn.

NHR_Week3.jpg



Silver Laced Wyandotte - This one is still very flighty. She's not mean, she's just not very confident and she doesn't like being handled. She has no tail feathers. She does have some wattle development, but you can barely tell from the photos. They're quite pink from what I can tell. I'm concerned that this one may be a male from the lack of tail feathers and the wattles coming in.

SLW_Week3.jpg
 
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WEEK 4


Lots of changes this week! We got lots of feathering going on, and we did a chicken exchange. We're getting closer to the point of being able to confirm sex, but I'm fairly confident that I've got all pullets here. The only one worrying me right now is the Jersey Giant, but I know they're slow growers and she's 1-2 days younger than the others.


Jersey Giant - She's definitely living up to her name Emma "the Emu" with that super long neck of hers.

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Leghorn - We've named her Molly. Her comb is even bigger than last week. I know that both male and female Leghorns have quite large combs, so I'm not too worried right now. I'm not seeing any color in her comb.

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New Hampshire Red - She's got some head feathers coming in! She looks so silly, but adorable! I love the sparse black feathering she's got going on.

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Silver Laced Wyandotte - This guy was developing crazy red wattles. We drove to a nearby farm and we compared him to some Golden Laced Wyandottes that they had. Our 4 week old SLW had bigger, redder wattles than all of the 5 week old GLW chicks. He also had a very red comb, whereas the GLW chicks had very pale pink combs. We decided to give him over to the farm. We do want a rooster eventually, but we'd much prefer not to right now.


Golden Cuckoo Maran - This new girl is a 5-6 week old Golden Cuckoo Maran. We got her from the same farm that we gave the SLW to. She's super sweet and gentle. We don't have a name for her yet.

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Following along. Wish we would have documented how ours are growing. Do you have pictures of the SLW at 4 weeks old?
We have 2 baby chickens looking like your golden Cuckoo Maran but their heads do not have a comp.
 
Following along. Wish we would have documented how ours are growing. Do you have pictures of the SLW at 4 weeks old?
We have 2 baby chickens looking like your golden Cuckoo Maran but their heads do not have a comp.
I only have pictures at 24 days. It's crazy how he went from "Eh, yeah, that's pretty red but there's still a chance it's a pullet...?" to "Nope that's definitely a boy!" from day 24 to day 28. I told my fiancé I'd take pictures of him before we left him at the farm, and then I forgot. 😑
 

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Did he look like the one in my pictures? I made the pictures at 27days old. I got told that SLW are difficult to sex. That chicken hatched Jan. 23rd and is now 7 weeks old. We think it is a rooster.
 

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Did he look like the one in my pictures? I made the pictures at 27days old. I got told that SLW are difficult to sex. That chicken hatched Jan. 23rd and is now 7 weeks old. We think it is a rooster.
VERY similar yes. Slightly less comb than yours and way less feathering.
 

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