Illinois...

[Faraday40]

Trouble's orpington chicks are now 4 weeks old. Let's play, guess that gender!
1 = ?
2 = female
3 = obvious male
4 = male
5 = possible female
6 = possible female
7 = ?
* and this blue orp is the only one I considered keeping. The comb/wattles have a touch of color but not obvious like #s 3 & 4. This chick came from Jewel's line, which has been known to give females with early big pink wattles.

The only guesses I feel confident about are chicks 2, 3, & 4.

 

[Molpet]

Trouble's orpington chicks are now 4 weeks old. Let's play, guess that gender!
1 = ?
2 = female
3 = obvious male
4 = male
5 = possible female
6 = possible female
7 = ?
* and this blue orp is the only one I considered keeping. The comb/wattles have a touch of color but not obvious like #s 3 & 4. This chick came from Jewel's line, which has been known to give females with early big pink wattles.

The only guesses I feel confident about are chicks 2, 3, & 4.
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I would say boy for 1 and 7.. but I get a lot of boys

 

[Faraday40]

I can see some male traits in #1 & am leaning that way. Its comb is just slightly above the surrounding chick's fluff.

#7 has the comb height of a female, but the color & slight drop of male wattles. I simply see traits of both genders. (Or perhaps it's my desire for another pretty blue female orp.)

I guess we'll know more next week..... if I don't sell them 1st.

 

[Faraday40]

My 2 seramas are 1 week old. The white is a day older & slightly bigger. Both are sweet, spoiled, & love to be held. Here are some pics.

They don't look like they inherited their daddy's silkied feathers, but boy do they look exactly like their parents as chicks. Here's what Noodle & Teddy looked like right after hatch & at 3 weeks old:

 

[Molpet]

My 2 seramas are 1 week old. The white is a day older & slightly bigger. Both are sweet, spoiled, & love to be held. Here are some pics.
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They don't look like they inherited their daddy's silkied feathers, but boy do they look exactly like their parents as chicks. Here's what Noodle & Teddy looked like right after hatch & at 3 weeks old:
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[Faraday40]

I took some pics today of the chickens.
Here's Cupcake (perhaps I should change her name to MuffinTop)

Here's Jewel:

and Blizzard - still molting but looking better now that she has back feathers.

I sold all Smudge's Spitzhauben chicks but kept the one lav orp. At the time I thought it was male, so not worth the effort to sell. At 11 weeks, I now think she's a pullet.
BTW- Smudge is molting, so that's why she looks "thin"

Here's the same lav orp at 5 weeks:


Speaking of Lavs, here's my cockerel (May 1st hatch). He was my 2nd choice, but the 1st choice decided to peck at the kids. This guy is BIG. Perhaps even bigger than my old roo Moose. I like parts of him, but he's also awkward. I think it's the tail. It's straight but he holds it at different angles. His comb is not as nice as other roos, but no sprigs or extra points. I'm growing out a back up just in case this guy doesn't turn out.

 

[Faraday40]

I decided to post my fav duo separately.
Here's Oreo & Double Stuff.


I tried getting their pics separately, but it was difficult. They're a package deal & always mirror each other. Here are just some random pics of these pretty gals walking around the yard. You can see why I simply could not decided which ONE to keep.

 

[Faraday40]

Just a few more...
a choc orp

Mr Wonderful is now Mr Molt. He looks so bad without his tail.

... and here's "Puppy' That's the nickname we gave him. He's supposed to be a future dinner b/c I have no use for him. (Partial laced orp, so not going to breed him) He's actually nicer than my fav roo, Mr Dummy-Pants (RIP). Whenever we're outside, he 's right there to greet us & follow us around. Hoping to find him a home. He also reminds me a little of Precious - my photo-bombing hen. Puppy wants to help with everything! So if I'm looking at a camera, he wants to look too!

 

[Molpet]

I decided to post my fav duo separately.
Here's Oreo & Double Stuff.


I tried getting their pics separately, but it was difficult. They're a package deal & always mirror each other. Here are just some random pics of these pretty gals walking around the yard. You can see why I simply could not decided which ONE to keep.

 

[cavemanrich]

I forgot what eggs look like
Have not seen an egg in about 4 weeks. Molt heavy duty around here. My RIR is not molting (or was) and is on strike for well over 8 weeks now.
The chickens are not consuming very much feed since they are not laying. There is feed available to them always. I put containers away at lockup time so night time visitors are not encouraged.

During winter the girls will be inside Garage Loft until Spring. Only artificial light during that time. Winter Egg production when it is good may be 2 eggs per week from my group of 5. I estimate that, year round cost for my pets to produce eggs equals $5 per egg.
No way could I go Into Shark Tank, and ask Kevin to become an investor in my COOP...
On a sadder note, my neighbors coop was raided by Rocky Raccoon.
2 fatalities, and one slight injury. The injured is recovering well. His problem stems from the fact that he leaves to work early and had to open coop up when it was still dark in the morning.
I have an automatic pop door that opens when light outside. Closes when dark. I still double check at dark to make sure all are in and everything is closed. At that time I also hide their feed into metal container.