Meyer Hatchery Chicken pics anyone??

[Finnie]

Any new pics of Corabeth? I'm good at sexing other people's chickens LOL! Limabean's chicks are blue ameraucanas. They are so cute, but I'm afraid they are all roos.

OK, well Ameraucanas I have a tiny bit of experience with. I raised 5 Lavenders over the winter. By 13 weeks, there was one I was positive was a male and I sold him. I never heard back any different, so I think I was right. There was another one I was iffy on at that point, but a hawk killed him before I was positive, but I think that one was male too. It was 15 weeks old. There were still two that I thought by combs were males, so at 16 weeks I sent photos to the breeder, and he told me I had three nice pullets. So really, for all I know, the one the hawk killed could also have been a pullet, since I had been going back and forth on that one too. I obviously couldn't tell by comb, or even by feathers, as late as 16 weeks. But as soon as the breeder told me the three were pullets, then I could see it in their tails, and body shape, and stopped second guessing myself.

It's funny, I was kind of like you, because I thought I had ALL roos. I think part of my problem was that they all looked the SAME, for the most part. If I would have kept the two males longer, until there were more obvious differences, then I would have had more signs to go by. But it is also possible I had ALL pullets, and that's why I was obsessing over every tiny little difference, because there really wasn't any real difference. Except for the first male getting a pinker comb at a younger age. I found that going by the "three lines" of the comb was not right. They all have three lines. They are just harder to see on the pullets, but since they were there, that's why I thought all my pullets were roos.

But anyway, do you have photos of them? Have you asked on the Ameraucana thread yet?

Now as to my Corabeth, I don't know if I can use what I learned with my Ameraucanas or not, since she is not pure Ameraucana. But since you said you are good at telling with other people's chickens, I did try to get some pics for you. They are not the best, but here goes. (She is 15 1/2 weeks old.)



















The wind probably messed her feathers up, and of course, she knew I was going for her, so she went into the wire pen and wouldn't come out. Then my camera battery was dying, so I decided to try again later. If I need to, I can post more when I do that.

 

[christine9]

@Finnie
I think Corabeth is a pullet. I don't see any male feathers and I'm guessing the redness is from getting close to laying. I figure being a mix will only move forward her maturing.

Here's my Eggplant and 13 weeks and then 15. Wish I had better/more pictures.

 

[Finnie]

Oh thank you Christine! I've been telling myself there is still hope and not to give up. Both of my Marans are also starting to get red combs and faces, but with them it doesn't seem cockerel-like. I wouldn't be surprised if I was within a month of getting eggs from them. Maybe the olive egger will beat them to it.

I love the name "Eggplant"!

 

[Poultrybonkers]

I lost have my flock today due to the dam rain. My boys lnes now dead so is my lil splash roo. Might sell the rest since i dont see the point in it anymore.

 

[kkwinwy]

I lost have my flock today due to the dam rain. My boys lnes now dead so is my lil splash roo. Might sell the rest since i dont see the point in it anymore.

I'm so so sorry to hear that... We had flooding here this week, and my coop flooded, and I had to move chickens everywhere. It's very stressful! I hope you can still find some joy in the ones you have left, but it is truly heartbreaking...

 

[Finnie]

I let my third batch of chicks go outside for some fresh air for the first time today. Pretty soon they will need to move out full time. Their baby coop isn't quite ready, so I set up a puppy ex-pen for them to play in.








Biscuit, the EE that started out with yellow down is turning out to be cream colored, with a gold neck.

I'm glad she isn't just white. I picked her hoping she would be yellow or buff.

My middle batch of chicks, the cream Legbars, came over to check them out.

I had to lean that plywood against the pen, because the turkeys also came to check them out, and they were a little bit mean. The chicks needed somewhere to get away from the turkeys pecking through the wire. Fortunately the turkeys got bored and went off somewhere else. Poppyseed, the baby turkey in this batch is afraid of the big turkeys. He puffed all up and tried to protect his "children".

This next pic is Ella, the Partridge Rock and Triscuit, the Easter Egger. Ella is two weeks older than the other chicks. I bought them because I didn't want there to be just Ella and the turkey, with no one else in their group.

Here is Gingersnap, the Buckeye, and Weetabix and Biscuit.

Triscuit, Ella and Poppyseed:

Weetabix and Triscuit, my EEs that are golden colored. I can still tell them apart because Weetabix is more speckled, and Triscuit is more barred.



They grow so fast! I am sad that they are not little fluff balls on my lap any more. At this age, they really don't tolerate snuggling, they just want to jump around. So far they still seem to retain at least a little bit of their tameness. We'll see if they remember me when they are big chickens running around with the flock. From my first batch this year, there are only two who will still let me actually pick them up. (Peppermint and Aggie.)

 

[hyzenthlay]

I lost have my flock today due to the dam rain. My boys lnes now dead so is my lil splash roo. Might sell the rest since i dont see the point in it anymore.

Oh my goodness, that's terrible! I'm so sorry! What happened? Do the rest have a place to get out of the rain? Hopefully they can be saved. I'm really sorry for your loss!

 

[hyzenthlay]

Finnie, your third batch looks great, and it looks like they are having fun outside. I've been doing the same sort of setup with my older chicks for a couple weeks now (ever since they were big enough not to squeeze through the bars of the pen). It's nice to see them outside, although we have lots of rain here, not the sun it looks like you have today. I had a corner of the pen covered for them to get out of the rain, enough to give them some outdoor time when it was grey and drizzly, but not enough for the downpours. I finally had to cover the whole top of the run today with a painting tarp, since the smartypants realized they could fly out and escape, and it took me awhile to round them back up (even though luckily they didn't stray far from the pen). Speaking of chicks rejecting the cuddles as they grow, my Dorking, Violet, is still very calm and sweet, and the Marans, Petunia, is cautious but relatively approachable, but our Ameraucana, Delphine, is now extremely skittish and squawky when we try to pick her up--just goes to show personality differences, I guess, since they all got cuddled the same (Delphine maybe most of all, actually). Can't win them all, I suppose.

Your young ladies all look pretty, and I'm glad Biscuit is turning out the color you want! I have zero experience with turkeys, but I have to say Poppyseed's color is so pretty too--in all the pics where you couldn't see her head, I kept forgetting you had a turkey in the mix, and wondering what that fancy colored chicken was.

 

[Finnie]

Quote: Oh Pandapaws! This is very sad.

I hope you begin to feel better and don't give up on chickens entirely.

 

[Finnie]

Finnie, your third batch looks great, and it looks like they are having fun outside. I've been doing the same sort of setup with my older chicks for a couple weeks now (ever since they were big enough not to squeeze through the bars of the pen). It's nice to see them outside, although we have lots of rain here, not the sun it looks like you have today. I had a corner of the pen covered for them to get out of the rain, enough to give them some outdoor time when it was grey and drizzly, but not enough for the downpours. I finally had to cover the whole top of the run today with a painting tarp, since the smartypants realized they could fly out and escape, and it took me awhile to round them back up (even though luckily they didn't stray far from the pen). Speaking of chicks rejecting the cuddles as they grow, my Dorking, Violet, is still very calm and sweet, and the Marans, Petunia, is cautious but relatively approachable, but our Ameraucana, Delphine, is now extremely skittish and squawky when we try to pick her up--just goes to show personality differences, I guess, since they all got cuddled the same (Delphine maybe most of all, actually). Can't win them all, I suppose.

Your young ladies all look pretty, and I'm glad Biscuit is turning out the color you want! I have zero experience with turkeys, but I have to say Poppyseed's color is so pretty too--in all the pics where you couldn't see her head, I kept forgetting you had a turkey in the mix, and wondering what that fancy colored chicken was.

Yeah, I have been itching to get them out. Especially the turkey, since it is getting so big. But we also have been having a lot of rain. It gets nice in between rains showers, and then starts up again. Today is the first full good day we've had in a long time. Other than the 90 degree days we had before the rain started.

Smartypants indeed! I have found that the turkeys figure out the jumping out of the pen very quickly, and then it becomes their goal in life. That's why I had to make the puppy pen long and skinny, instead of a square, because I had to be able to put stuff over the top of it.

And personality differences, yes! The last time I tried to snuggle Gingersnap, the Buckeye, she cried loudly the whole time, for her brooder mates. Even though I had one of them on my lap with her. I could tell I was just not getting through to her, and she will probably just be one that stays skittish. But Biscuit on the other hand, while not as friendly as Peppermint or Ella, is still curious about me and doesn't seem afraid.


I remember Delphine was the saucy one, right? So probably going to be on the independent side.

Do you notice any personality traits with your new chicks yet?