First 6 are bought, and i'm ready!

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krisirose

krisirose

In the Brooder
Apr 13, 2015
29
1
24
Glen Burnie, MD
I had chickens as a child, and I loved them. Now that I'm an adult, with some yard and a garden, and I decided to buy 6 chirpie little chicks. We're not going to know if all 6 are hens until they're older (I'm not sure how you would be able to tell at such a young age.) I'm fairly certain mine are around 2 weeks old. I have 5 Red chicks, and 1 black one (I can't remember the breed.)

They are super talkative, and they're getting their feathers on the tips of the wings. I'm trying to socialize them as much as possible, so they won't just run away from me later. That's really all I have, and I already have been enjoying the forum.
 
Welcome to BYC. Would you know the breeds if you saw them in print? For instance the black may be Black Australorp, and the reds, might be Rhode Island Reds? Does that ring a bell?

At any rate when they about about 6 weeks old you can post photos at "what breed or gender is this."
 
Thank you for your reply. Those both sound right. I have been taking photos of them every day so far, but they're waaay not ready for any breed-identifying photos.
 
krisirose said:
I had chickens as a child, and I loved them. Now that I'm an adult, with some yard and a garden, and I decided to buy 6 chirpie little chicks. We're not going to know if all 6 are hens until they're older (I'm not sure how you would be able to tell at such a young age.) I'm fairly certain mine are around 2 weeks old. I have 5 Red chicks, and 1 black one (I can't remember the breed.)

They are super talkative, and they're getting their feathers on the tips of the wings. I'm trying to socialize them as much as possible, so they won't just run away from me later. That's really all I have, and I already have been enjoying the forum.
Click to expand...

Welcome to BYC!! So glad to have you join us.
Did you purchased "pullets" or "straight run" chicks - the former would greatly increase your chances of having ended up with all laying hens as planned vs. the increased likelyhood of unexpected males with the latter. Many can be sexed at hatch as they are either of auto-sexing purebreeds or sex linked crosses where the male and female chicks have physical markings that differentiate them. For breeds that this does not apply to, the hatcheries employ a process called "vent sexing" to sort males from females by examining the structures inside the vent area of newly hatched chicks - this usually results in a 90-95% accurate determination of sex. In another 4-5 weeks you can post photos of the birds in the "what breed/gender" section here at BYC and we can help you start to sort out the various characteristics that will be beginning to show at that point that will ID both breed and gender of the little ones.
 
Ol Grey Mare said:
Welcome to BYC!!  So glad to have you join us.
Did you purchased "pullets" or "straight run" chicks - the former would greatly increase your chances of having ended up with all laying hens as planned vs. the increased likelyhood of unexpected males with the latter.  Many can be sexed at hatch as they are either of auto-sexing purebreeds or sex linked crosses where the male and female chicks have physical markings that differentiate them.  For breeds that this does not apply to, the hatcheries employ a process called "vent sexing" to sort males from females by examining the structures inside the vent area of newly hatched chicks - this usually results in a 90-95% accurate determination of sex.  In another 4-5 weeks you can post photos of the birds in the "what breed/gender" section here at BYC and we can help you start to sort out the various characteristics that will be beginning to show at that point that will ID both breed and gender of the little ones.
Click to expand...
I bought from the straight run because that was our only option. I'll be posting their photos once they are older. Thank you for your answer!
 

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