How many hens do you see out of these fifteen chicks?

[TheOddOneOut]

She appreciates your compliments! I really love her too. Hope you can get one someday! She has such a good personality too.

Actually, Gazette and Caramel in this thread are hers. I don't let her around roosters because it's traumatizing for her since she can't see them coming. The one rooster she likes, Patriot (the RIR + SLW mix), realized I left the gate unlatched one day and those two chicks resulted. Those two chicks are quite a mix. Happy accident!

Awesome! That explains why Gazette is silver and Carmel is gold, because it’s a sexlink cross.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Gazzette, Pipsqueak, Goldie, Candy, Cadbury Creme, and probably Ester Sue are female.

X2

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

They all are a rich mahogany red, with nice glossy yellow shanks and well-shaped single combs. I would guess their father (I saw him in your other thread) is at least mostly RIR, and looks just as much, and the hen is good quality.
So, in conclusion, if someone sold them to me as “Good quality RIRs” I would be more than satisfied.

What do you mean by good quality? These look like purebred RIRs, but they aren’t heritage.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Awesome! That explains why Gazette is silver and Carmel is gold, because it’s a sexlink cross.

That’s not how sexlinking works. The father of those chicks was silver/gold split, meaning he could have had gold and silver chicks of both genders.

 

[BesideStillWaters]

I used a Q-tip at first, when they were so weak and wobbly and tiny that they couldn’t do much else but nibble at it, but when they were stronger they would rip the cotton top, so I switched to a syringe.
I do believe that my baby-boosting concoctions were partly responsible for their speedy recoveries. The three healthiest babies would gobble it down like crazy, but there was this one weak little Sapphire Gem girl who had the worst case of pasty butt, and she wouldn’t eat it. When she finally did, she perked up and started acting better. She quickly cleared out of the woods and grew fast. As a chick, she had these huge thick legs and big beak. She’s gonna be a big bird. View attachment 2738130

Oh I see. Glad they didn't eat the tip!

WOW those are big feet!

She's beautiful.

 

[BesideStillWaters]

Awesome! That explains why Gazette is silver and Carmel is gold, because it’s a sexlink cross.

Well... technically, the sex link was the father. If I remember right, sex linking can only happen in the first generation and this would be the second. It is neat how I happened to get a girl and a boy with different coloring out of this mix though! However, I bet it was just a coincidence. Gazette took after her grandma, Tiny the SLW, and Caramel took after her mother, Amber the GLW.

 

[BesideStillWaters]

What do you mean by good quality? These look like purebred RIRs, but they aren’t heritage.

May I ask what you mean by heritage? What is the difference between purebred and heritage?

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

May I ask what you mean by heritage? What is the difference between purebred and heritage?

Your RIRs are purebred. So are heritage RIRs. It’s just how they’re bred that’s different- heritage RIRs are bred strictly to the standard of perfection. Production/hatchery quality RIRs are bred to have the basic RIR look, but don’t completely match the standard. They’re more bred for egg production.

 

[BesideStillWaters]

That’s not how sexlinking works. The father of those chicks was silver/gold split, meaning he could have had gold and silver chicks of both genders.

Which is why I have two red chicks with rose combs I assume.

 

[BesideStillWaters]

Your RIRs are purebred. So are heritage RIRs. It’s just how they’re bred that’s different- heritage RIRs are bred strictly to the standard of perfection. Production/hatchery quality RIRs are bred to have the basic RIR look, but don’t completely match the standard. They’re more bred for egg production.

Ooohh I see. That makes sense. I raised mine for egg production - and pets. Mostly pets.

But my other goal is to eventually get the genes of the four original birds into one very mixed breed chicken. Gazette has the genes of three - RIR (rooster), SLW and GLW. Next time I hatch eggs, I want to have Gazette hatch eggs with the RIR's (female) chick being the father and that will do it.