I’ve been skunked. :-(

[Orpingtons Mom]

I well all I can say is all these people must’ve seen me coming from 10 miles away. It started about three months ago, and I went to a “chicken swap“. I saw two lavender Orpington’s there and wanted to buy them but I was on my way to work. I had no cash on me, and of course even if I had I couldn’t take them to work with me.

Needless to say I learned my lesson. Or I thought I had learned my lesson. This past week, or now it’s almost 2 weeks, there were two very pretty young birds, and I bought them immediately so I wouldn’t lose out. Big mistake.

I got them home, and realized almost immediately that they could fly. OK not far but they had all the feathers they needed to fly. I was told they were regular chickens… I think that is a lie. I suspect they may be quail. Heaven knows what I’m going to do with them.

Can someone help me decide what I’ve got? Here’s a picture.

 

[Acre4Me]

Quail are smaller. Looks like a chicken.

 

[Orpingtons Mom]

Hmmm. These guys ARE small. I’ll take another pic with a coffee cup beside to give it some scale.

 

[The Happster]

It's a chicken.
Sometimes you do get some pretty flighty ones.

 

[Orpingtons Mom]

Ok. But it has to be a bantam, right?

 

[The Happster]

It doesn't really look it.

I would expect slightly smaller. But it could be.

It looks about 6 weeks.

 

[gointothebirdsfarm]

I think its some sort of chicken. My chickens fly when they want too. Granted not very long, but they do it when they think they can get to their food faster.

 

[Callender Girl]

They're still lovely little birds, regardless. Sometimes things just work out. I was given a free mystery chick at the local feed store last year, the last layer chick of the season. A lone chick is a lonely chick, and Dottie didn't make any chicken friends before it was too cold for her to live outdoors. She became a house chicken, a messy house chicken.

BUT she also turned out to be a Prairie Bluebell Egger who gifts me with beautiful eggs. She goes outside during the days (well, until it gets and stays really cold again) and spends her nights indoors in a large dog crate.

I still curse the poultry person at the store for giving me a lone chick -- but I ACTUALLY adore Dottie! Maybe yours will be a mixed blessing, too!

 

[Acre4Me]

Quail don’t have feathered legs, and yours have fluff on the legs. Feet look like chicken feet. And yours has a comb, whereas quail don’t have combs.

 

[Trisseh]

It’s definitely a chicken, I’m not sure on breed. Quail don’t have combs or wattles, and are a more overall round shape. They’re also much, much smaller. Below is a 2 week old quail, and then my 17 week old quail to give you an idea. I think your little chick is still bigger than my tank of a quail, he’s the biggest one I have. Haha