Brought my first chicks home yesterday!

[Matzwd]

I just wanted to tell you congrats on your chicks and completing their home! Be patient and wait a bit longer on the Wyandotte and the Marans before giving them up. I too have 7 week old FBCM and SLWs, and the Marans' comb got big fast but is very pale pink. I have posted about her twice, with pics, and my friends here say "boy," but the hatchery (Cackle) says it still looks like a girl to them, that they can have big combs. I have had an SLW in the past and have two 7-week old SLWs and a BLW currently. The combs get a fair amount of color at this age, but not bright red yet. I panicked until first lay on the first one, but not this time. I have three Dotties to compare now, and they all have some color in the comb. Here's what mine look like, three different sexed birds. My camera made the BLRW look more red than it actually is.

 

[debid]

Your GLW looks like a pullet. I find the patterning easier than the comb on them. Females have lacing everywhere, males go solid on the back beginning below the hackles and they get a patch on their wing (red for gold, white for silver). You can usually see evidence of this by the time they've had the first chick molt and some show it in their baby feathers.

And Marans can have some large combs. I wouldn'tbe too concerned yet.

 

[Skellington]

@debid @Matzwd Oh, that's hopeful news! Not that I mind if one's a rooster, but two out of six was a disappointment. Those SLW combs look a LOT like the stage my GLW is at, so maybe there's hope she's a she!

 

[Matzwd]

@debid @Matzwd Oh, that's hopeful news! Not that I mind if one's a rooster, but two out of six was a disappointment. Those SLW combs look a LOT like the stage my GLW is at, so maybe there's hope she's a she!

My FBCM also looks like yours.

 

[Skellington]

@Matzwd The BCM is definitely a rooster -- he's now getting some copper on his back, where a hen shouldn't. I'm hoping the GLW is a hen, though -- how are yours looking?

 

[Skellington]

Oh dear. The BCM is now attempting to crow. He sounds like a sick goose, and this morning he was having a territorial dispute with the garbage truck. I need to get him to my friends with the farm asap!

 

[debid]

Oh dear. The BCM is now attempting to crow. He sounds like a sick goose, and this morning he was having a territorial dispute with the garbage truck. I need to get him to my friends with the farm asap!

View attachment 1816977

Well, the good news is that the GLW is a pullet.

 

[Folly's place]

Very handsome flock!
Your hardware cloth is not well enough secured to the framing; add wood strips screwed in over it on the inside, or at least screws over washers on the inside. Safety!
Mary

 

[Skellington]

@Folly's place Yup, the run isn't done. I've only been letting them out when someone is around. I have 2x4s to overlap the hardware cloth.

@debid Yes! She's definitely a she, thank goodness!