My broody Nugget hatched five chicks. Four were Barred EEs (BR roo over Ameraucana hens) and one was a pure Blue Orpington....or so I thought. Originally, there was one pure Blue Orp egg in the clutch that we put under Nugget one evening. The next morning, DH informed me that he found a Blue Orp in a nest and put it under my hen as well, making 2 Blue Orp eggs. One was not fertile and was removed so one of the Orps hatched. As you know, you cant tell what's going on under a broody hen to monitor the hatch very well. All five that were fertile did hatch--we recovered all the shells. We just did not see what came out of what shell.
The tiny ones are five days old and their wing feathers are coming in. I see barring on the wing of the little blue EE chick and think, oh how cute!Then I realize that this chick was the one I thought was a pure Blue Orp...it has no actual headspot like the others do. I expect a headspot on any BR or BR cross. So, I see that little odd one,the one that is dark smoky color with gold around its eyes and a light comes on....the Orp egg my DH placed under the broody wasnt a pure Blue Orp egg; it was MEG'S!! Meg is in with Suede still for reasons irrelevant to this thread. That would explain how I got a chick with gold on it. The Ameraucanas I have are blues and blacks, so it was a real puzzler as to how the chick had brown/gold on it. I was convinced it was a BR cross due to the spot on its head, but that just threw me off.
I originally thought I had three black and one blue barred EE chicks and just one blue Orp chick, but turns out I have two blue barred and two black barred EEs and one Blue Orp over RIRxBuff Orp chick. Not what I had planned.
On the other hand, I'm psyched that TWO of the four EE babies are blue! Awesome!!!
See pics below-see the tiny blue barred wings???
The tiny ones are five days old and their wing feathers are coming in. I see barring on the wing of the little blue EE chick and think, oh how cute!Then I realize that this chick was the one I thought was a pure Blue Orp...it has no actual headspot like the others do. I expect a headspot on any BR or BR cross. So, I see that little odd one,the one that is dark smoky color with gold around its eyes and a light comes on....the Orp egg my DH placed under the broody wasnt a pure Blue Orp egg; it was MEG'S!! Meg is in with Suede still for reasons irrelevant to this thread. That would explain how I got a chick with gold on it. The Ameraucanas I have are blues and blacks, so it was a real puzzler as to how the chick had brown/gold on it. I was convinced it was a BR cross due to the spot on its head, but that just threw me off.
I originally thought I had three black and one blue barred EE chicks and just one blue Orp chick, but turns out I have two blue barred and two black barred EEs and one Blue Orp over RIRxBuff Orp chick. Not what I had planned.
See pics below-see the tiny blue barred wings???
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