eight and a half weeks and down one

[Nic]

We very sadly lost one of our chicks at six weeks

Not sure what killed it and ate it but it must have been a very small and evil rodent to squeeze through the tiny gap in the coop that we've now blocked up. It was the weaker chick of the five, born with only one wing, so very sad to have lost it after thinking it had done so well to survive.

We now have 3 brown hens which have been identified by kind folk on here as RIRs - they are all pretty much identical so are either all hens or all roos, clearly I'm hoping they'll be hens

We're letting them free range round the garden when we're around and they have soo much character - last night we found one of them balanced on my jeans hanging out to dry on the washing line about 10 foot off the ground, so they're getting around pretty well which reassures me the neighbourhood cats won't be feasting on them any time soon!

Here's Freddie

Punzel:

and Rhonda:

and here's our black one - it's bigger and bolder than the others, I assume some sort of RIR cross and I'm thinking could be a roo. It actually deliberatly bit me last night when I went to herd them all in for the night!

We hatched them ourselves with an incubator and I still can't quite believe that eight weeks ago they were bundles of fluff and now are great big feathered things

 

[Wolfpacker]

Surely those hens are older than 8 1/2 weeks.

 

[Poison Ivy]

The last bird looks like a black star sex link? Very pretty.

 

[Frozen Feathers]

Yes I would say the last one is a black star, and a female...if it were a black star boy it'd look like a barred rock

 

[menkot]

I think the red ones are production reds rather than RIR. They look EXACTLY like my production reds. I think RIR's are maybe a little darker and no black??? Are you sure they are 8 1/2 weeks old. Mine were hatched the first of April and are just now getting their wattles. Yours look about the same size as mine also. The black one definitely looks like my black sex link and looks about the same age also.

 

[Nic]

lol - well at least you're all calling them hens!

Just checked back and yep, they hatched 16th and 17th May which I make 9 weeks today, so those pics taken at the weekend were at 8.5 weeks old.

Do I have mutant hens?!

or does this suggest they are all infact cockrels - gulp?

 

[speckledhen]

menkot, RIR's do have black in their tails and wings. Those look just like most hatchery RIRs. I know because I own three and then I have a gorgeous, dark, dark red breeder quality RIR pullet. Big difference. Production reds always look faded out to me, much more so than the above pics. They look like nice healthy girls!

 

[Wolfpacker]

Do Dominiques mature more slowly than RIRs? Mine were born on May 20 and still look like chicks. One - I call her Spunky - can still squeeze between the holes in the chain link fence. They have no combs or wattles, and a couple still have fuzz.

 

[Chickenlover88]

If they are only nine weeks old i'm sorry to say but they are definatly males.

 

[menkot]

Thanks speckledhen. I had a RIR years ago that was darker than those... way darker. I went out and looked at my production reds and actually they are a little darker than those. Mine are pretty dark.

I am wondering if those aren't roosters just going by mine though. Mine have very small combs and their wattles are just starting to develop. I think they are around 14-15 weeks.