How old are these babies?

[ninafe]

Hi guys! First time chicken owner here and I'm loving this website!! I bought four Rhode Island Red hens from Tractor Supply 5 days ago and when I asked the store employee who helped me pick out the chicks how old they were, he said they were about a week old. So here I am thinking my chicks are about two weeks old. However I was browsing google and based on the pics I saw I feel like my chicks are too small for being two weeks old. Here is a picture of my biggest chick among the group and the whole group. Can you estimate how old they are? Thank you!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Based on how my chicks have feathered out in the past, I would say they're in the vicinity of 7-10 days old now. I imagine they were just under a week old when you got them. That said, knowing their exact age isn't super important when the difference might only be a few days at most.

You should be aware, however, that those are not Rhode Island Reds. They appear to be a red sexlink of some sort, so they could be Red Stars, Golden Comets, ISA Browns, etc. They should lay you a lot of eggs in their first two years, but may run into ailments of the reproductive tract after that, so just be aware of that possibility if you intend to let them live out their entire natural lives versus processing them for the freezer after a year or two.

 

[NatJ]

I took a pic of the bucket that they were picked out from and on the lables it says "RIR, leghorn, ancona and golden laced waydotte". Do they fit in the profile of any of the other three kinds?

They are not any breed on that list.

The color is wrong for all of them:
RIR-- red with black feathers, red chicks (no white)
Leghorn-- usually yellow chick/white feathers
Ancona-- black & white feathers, black & yellow down
Golden Laced Wyandotte-- gold and black feathers, chicks black with some brown/yellow

I agree with @pipdzipdnreadytogo that you have red sexlinks (which can be sold under many different names, but all grow up to be similar to each other.) They can be nice chickens, but they are not Rhode Island Reds (although they often have a RIR father.)

Rhode Island Reds grow up to be mostly dark red, with a few black feathers in their wings and tail, and no white anywhere. Your chicks have white where RIR would have black.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

That's one of the benefits to sexlinks is that you can be sure which chicks are males and which are females as soon as they've hatched. With red sexlinks, females are reddish and males are yellow. Since all four of yours are reddish, they're all definitely females!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

It's unfortunately very common for Tractor Supply chicks to be put in the wrong bin, or for employees to not know what they're looking at when it comes to the chicks they supply (though it sounds like the employee you spoke with at least had some base chicken knowledge, better than most!). NatJ described why your chicks can't be any of those breeds, because the colors are all wrong. The white wing feathers from reddish chicks are a dead giveaway for red sexlink chicks.

 

[RoyalChick]

I ended up with some similar. Mine I believe are ISA Browns. They are adorable hens who are very friendly and sociable. Just be prepared (as others have said) for some heartache as they may run into reproductive issues after two years.
Off topic - but is that press and seal you have on the top of the heat plate? I was about to use that but wasn’t sure if it might melt. If it is working for you I will put some on when I next do a clean out.
My new chicks are 10 days old and are enjoying jumping up on top of it!

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

I currently have this anxiety that some might turn out to be roosters which we won’t be able to keep. So when I was cleaning their box earlier I really tried to look at the colors. And in bright sunlight, a couple actually did look more pale yellow than golden/red…. Here are two pictures. Still looking like all hens?

Baby chicks grow so fast!! I could’ve swore this morning when I left for work their wings were not nearly as long as when I got home from work this evening.

I know its already been confusing after learning you have red sexlinks and not Rhode Island Reds, but you can rest assured your chicks are all female. Even though the down colors of pullets can vary in shading, males never have any red or gold shades in their down at all; their down is uniformly a solid pale yellowish-white.

As far as their wing feathers now being longer than when you left for work this morn, you are probably not imagining that! They really do grow fast. And red sexlink pullets mature earlier than many breeds, meaning that in another 18-19 weeks or so, your little lasses will be laying beautiful brown eggs!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Off topic - but is that press and seal you have on the top of the heat plate? I was about to use that but wasn’t sure if it might melt. If it is working for you I will put some on when I next do a clean out.
My new chicks are 10 days old and are enjoying jumping up on top of it!

I use press and seal on my heat plates and no, it doesn't melt! Since the heat is directed downward to the bottom of the plate, it doesn't get that warm at all on top. The only real issue I've run into with press and seal is that they do sometimes start pecking or scratching at it as they grow and get more active, so it has to be replaced pretty frequently after the first couple weeks.

I wish I could sex my chicks that easy!

Haha, wouldn't it be nice if all chicks were that easy to tell?

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Is this normal behavior?? Am I stuck with puppy pads forever? Would they die from eating too much shavings?

Are you using flake shavings or fine shavings?
If you are using fine, switch to flake asap.
Flake shavings are too large for chicks to ingest. Even flake shavings have some smaller bits mixed in, but not enough to be a problem.

Also, do Not use the "coffee grounds" bedding currently being sold by tractor supply. I read a thread just yesterday where a person said most of their chicks died soon after she added that bedding to their brooder. Ive seen other similiar concerns too. Caffeine is toxic to chickens, and wee chicks would be even more susceptible.

Having said that, billions of chicks have been brooded on various bedding types and survived just fine. It is perfectly normal for chicks to taste/sample their surroundings, and that includes their bedding. They are just like human kids in that respect. I am always amused when I see a new chick "sample" poop it sees stuck to another chick's butt. Followed immediately by the chick frantically wiping its beak back and forth on the ground. The chick's antics leave little doubt what it is thinking. "Ooh gross that was horrible I must remember to Never Ever eat that again!"

Chicks grow fast, and they learn fast too.

 

[The-White-Elephant]

Hi guys! First time chicken owner here and I'm loving this website!! I bought four Rhode Island Red hens from Tractor Supply 5 days ago and when I asked the store employee who helped me pick out the chicks how old they were, he said they were about a week old. So here I am thinking my chicks are about two weeks old. However I was browsing google and based on the pics I saw I feel like my chicks are too small for being two weeks old. Here is a picture of my biggest chick among the group and the whole group. Can you estimate how old they are? Thank you!
View attachment 3043469View attachment 3043470

They are adorable!

I would say 1.5-2 weeks old