How old are these babies?

[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!

 

[Sc_chickengirl]

That's one of the benefits to red 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!

I wish I could sex my chicks that easy!

 

[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?

 

[Sc_chickengirl]

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.




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

If only we could say a female has just come out who wants her. Oh well I guess it would be to easy then.

 

[ninafe]

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!

By reproductive issues- I thought it was meant that they'd stop laying eggs and become freeloaders, which I am totally fine with.... But do you mean that they actually tend to die from reproductive issues?

And yes! I actually found that tip on a thread here! It doesn't get hot on the top and i replace it every other day. I did test it out the first day to make sure it didnt get hot- it's warm but not hot at all.

 

[Lizzy733]

By reproductive issues- I thought it was meant that they'd stop laying eggs and become freeloaders, which I am totally fine with.... But do you mean that they actually tend to die from reproductive issues?

And yes! I actually found that tip on a thread here! It doesn't get hot on the top and i replace it every other day. I did test it out the first day to make sure it didnt get hot- it's warm but not hot at all.

A bit of both. You will get an egg a day from each for two years and they will lay straight through their first winter, then they will do their first true molt and winter break. I lost all three of mine to cancers and reproductive issues when they were due to come back into lay just shy of three years old.
They are lovely, human friendly girls that are always busy, but will wear themselves ragged and can be pretty aggressive towards new birds and chicks. Maje sure to get them on a good pelleted layer ration with calcium. These feeds are pretty much made for them and will give them the best balanced nutrition to ward off issues like eggbinding, which can be exasperated by low calcium intake. They'll likely never go broody as well, so do be aware if you intended to try out hatching at any point. Some have had luck having them live well into their senior years, but this seems more a case of genetics roulette than husbandry. Unfortunately, mine did not last at all.

 

[Sc_chickengirl]

A bit of both. You will get an egg a day from each for two years and they will lay straight through their first winter, then they will do their first true molt and winter break. I lost all three of mine to cancers and reproductive issues when they were due to come back into lay just shy of three years old.
They are lovely, human friendly girls that are always busy, but will wear themselves ragged and can be pretty aggressive towards new birds and chicks. Maje sure to get them on a good pelleted layer ration with calcium. These feeds are pretty much made for them and will give them the best balanced nutrition to ward off issues like eggbinding, which can be exasperated by low calcium intake. They'll likely never go broody as well, so do be aware if you intended to try out hatching at any point. Some have had luck having them live well into their senior years, but this seems more a case of genetics roulette than husbandry. Unfortunately, mine did not last at all.

Mine actually have gone broody several times when I didn't want them too. But some died before chicks hatched. I have 3 that are 4 in summer.

 

[ninafe]

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.

 

[RoyalChick]

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, mine seem to take a short nap and emerge bigger! It is amazing.
I think you got an answer to the reproductive issues question. One of mine stopped putting shells in her eggs at about two years and died six months later. Her sister is now three years old and has just stopped laying eggs with shell. And yes, I gave both lots of calcium supplements.
And thanks for the Press-and-Seal tip.

 

[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!