Darkening Beaks and Legs

[MoSelvidio]

I'm sorry if this is in the wrong place since I don't actually know if my chicks have anything wrong with them, but I wasn't sure where else to put it.

I have a batch of chicks that hatched on the 8th of January, so they are two weeks old tomorrow. They are a cross between a silver grey dorking roo and easter egger hens.

A few days ago, their beaks and nostrils started to darken from pink/orange to a very dark brown or black. The beaks otherwise look normal. Today I noticed that their legs are also starting to darken. They are active and eating and drinking normally. However, I have raised a good amount of chicks to date, and have never had this happen and I'm a worry wart by nature. I've tried searching for answers over google and here on this forum, but haven't really found anything. Has anybody else had this happen? Should I be worried?

All four chicks have this happening to them, but I'll just post pictures of one of them.


What their beaks originally looked like:



What their beaks look like now (sorry chick for the super bright flash!):



The darkened legs (no flash, since it was washing out the colors, so there's a lot of shadow on the foot):

 

[ten chicks]

I have seen this in chicks before,as they age beak/legs darken,but not with all breeds. Look at photos of Black Copper Marans,you will see dark beaks/legs,just like your chicks. You mentioned you have hatched others and have not noticed this before,have you hatched these particular breeds in the past? Make sure they are receiving chick feed. If they are eating/drinking/pooping normal,then i would not worry.

 

[realsis]

X2.i would think it's just the breed of the bird. I have silkies and I know with them they have dark beaks and dark legs as well . The silkies even have black skin! So I'm thinking it's just the particular breed of the bird as above post said. You can look at pictures of chick's of that particular breed and age online and see if the birds have the same characteristics. Could also be if they are crossed with something that they are taking on the characteristics of that particular cross.if they are healthy and eating and drinking I would not worry to much about it. It does seem that it's just the characteristics of that breed or crossbreed. Hope this is helpful. Best wishes. Your babies are so adorable!

 

[Wyandottes7]

I think that this is normal. Often, the beak and leg color changes in chicks. My Easter Egger didn't originally have very green legs, but she does now. Some of my chicks had yellow beaks at the start, and now have black shading.