Day old BBS Leghorn chick down query

[chickchickchickennz]

Hope I have posted this in the right section...

Hatched some leghorn eggs and have a couple of images of the chicks...

The first chick is from my black rooster and my blue hen.. Why does the chick have brown under its chin and dark legs? Have hatched lots chicks from him and all have been either blue or black with yellow legs.. I don't think I have put him over that particular hen before though...

The second chick is from some blue / splash eggs I bought, planning to add new genes to my flock.. The eggs were white, but the chicks are all slightly bigger than any leghorn I have ever hatched. The light chicks all have pinky legs and are bright yellow with tones of orange... The one in the image is the only one with really distinctive markings. Plus the 'blue' chicks look more black than blue to me...

Any feedback greatly appreciated... Thanks in advance...

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi!

I think this would go better in the "What Breed or Gender is This" so I'll scoot it over there for you. Otherwise, they sure are cute!

Your first one, since you haven't bred the blue hen to him before, perhaps she's got some chocolate in her. Could he have a chocolate gene that didn't show up yet?

With chicks, it's hard because usually they change so much in a few weeks. I'd wait until they grow their wing feathers in as that might tell you a lot!